Ratchet and Clank Tenebris: Shadow of Ephemeris
by Cortana Hansen
Summary: AU. Originally Ratchet and Clank: Bending Reality. Adara Lowry is transformed into a Lombax and is sent to Polaris. Now stuck on Magnus, she must work with three heroes and a villain to save the planet.- I'm planning on rewriting the first chapter a bit to make it more realistic, and then I'm going to edit one or two others. The altered chapters will be named in chapter 20.
1. I: Waking Up

**Heya, everyone. Before we get started, I'd like to update you on what's going on with my Ratchet and Clank stories. First off,** ** _The Machine_** **is on temporary hiatus due to writer's block regarding it. Sorry to all my readers. Also, although I never wrote an epilogue for** ** _Dimensions_** **, it is now officially considered complete, and it's sequel will be up sometime in the future. Now for** ** _Nefarious Gaming-_** **still gonna update it now and then, but the time between updates may be long.** ** _The Expanse_** **will be continue being updated as well.**

 **This story will not be updated as frequently as _The Expanse,_ though, because I want that story to be my primary focus. Al** **so, I know this concept is kinda overdone, but I like it, and besides, I'm not going to be going with the Ratchet x OC gig anyway. I won't say why, though. And this is officially my first Ratchet and Clank fanfiction to be written in the first person. Yay...**

 **This is an experiment, sort of, so please bear with me. And no** **w that my giant speech is over... story time! :)**

. . .

 _"Disengaging primary cryofeed."_

I sleepily yawn widely, and then open my eyes, only to see I'm hanging upside down. "Augh! Where am I?! What the heck is happening?!"

I hear a voice a few feet away ask, "Clank, where are we?"

I look and see... Ratchet? What? This seriously cannot be happening right now...

"I do not know," another voice replies. It was Clank. "Have you located Qwark?"

I look and see Qwark _and_ Nefarious. Great. I've somehow ended up in the Ratchet and Clank universe and I don't know which game this is and Nefarious seems to have somehow survived the destruction of his space station and Qwark is here and... okay, I really need to calm down. No, I can't calm down. This is some kind of dream... right?

"A little help here... someone?" Qwark asks. "I think my thing is broken." Then he saw me. "Hey, another Lombax!"

Ratchet and Clank then look me. Ratchet waves nervously. "Uh, hi?"

"What...?" I look at my hands, which are gloveless and are covered in silver fur. This just keeps getting better and better... then I look at Nefarious. He's frozen, playing a broadcast of _Lance and Janice._ Qwark slaps him, bringing the robot out of it.

Nefarious, needless to say, is not happy. "You TWIT! You dare lay your squishy hands on me? When I get down from here I'll rip you in half!"

Sure you will. And right at this moment, a little girl steps in. I see her on the platform down below as she asks, "Excuse me. Watcha doin' up there?"

"Eh, looking for a way down?" I say, cringing at my voice. It doesn't sound like my voice...

The girl gives us a salute and uses her... gadget thingamajig to activate the switch controlling these... things we're hanging from. We all fall down screaming and we end up bruised (or in Clank's and Nefarious' case, dented), but other than that, just peachy. The girl pulls at another switch. "C'mon. Head through the Sector Seven Air Vent and we'll rendezvous on the south side. A Galactic Scout never leaves before her mission is complete!"

Suddenly we're launched to another platform by the one we were standing on before. I guess it was a launch pad. I look around at my companions and sigh. This is just wonderful. Of course I'm being completely sarcastic. And then the computer decides to make her presence known.

 _"Organic lifeforms detected. Reroute to creature pen for probing and experimentation."_

Ratchet, looking worried, says, "Probing? Wait-wait-wait, we're not test subjects, we're... uh... new trainees?"

 _"Very well,"_ the computer replies. _"Rerouting to training lab for gadget certification."_

I cross my arms as we wait to go to the training lab. Of course, Ratchet has something to say to me. "So... how did you get here?"

"Uh..." I think a moment, trying to find a way to reply. "I dunno."

"'I dunno' she says," Nefarious mocks sarcastically.

I look at him. "Seriously. One second, I'm falling asleep on my couch reading, the next I'm here, with no idea how I got here. This... I... it... shouldn't be possible!" I clap my hands over my mouth, afraid to say more. Then I lower them. "This is just plain freaky."

Nefarious just rolls his eyes and crosses his arms. I look at Qwark, who's standing there sniffing his armpits. He sees me and immediately stops, blushing. "Uh... you saw nothing."

I shake my head, muttering, "Sure I didn't..."

Clank, hopping onto Ratchet's back, then asks, "What is your name?"

"Adara Lowry," I say.

We're now at the training lab. I see the Swingshot target and realise that this isn't going to be easy. Is it ever? I don't have a Swingshot. And even if I did, I wouldn't know how to use it.

Ratchet easily latches on and swings to the other side. Qwark follows. So now it's just Nefarious and me left. The robot looks at me, scowling. "What are you waiting for, squishy?"

"I don't have a Swingshot," I tell him.

Ratchet and the others are watching from the other side. Qwark calls, "Hey, hurry it up there! We can't sit around all day! Otherwise my voters will think I'm dead! And then they'll vote for somebody else!"

I ignore Qwark's ridiculous statement. "Don't you have foot rockets?"

"Yes," Nefarious replies, raising an eyebrow. "But they haven't been working recently. I haven't gotten around to repairing them yet."

"Well, there goes that idea," I mutter. "Um, I know you hate organic lifeforms, but unless you want to waste more time waiting for one of our allies to come swinging back and fetch me..."

"No way!" Nefarious shrieks, backing away a bit.

"What would you rather have?" I continue. "The others up your butt about leaving me behind, or sucking it up and holding onto me for a few measly seconds?"

"Fine," Nefarious says. "But speak of this to no one." Now where have I heard that before? Oh, yeah. My step-brother said that to me yesterday when I caught him sneaking cookies out of the kitchen. Wait till he hears about this. If he hears about this...

I wrap my arms around Nefarious, who leaps and grapples onto the Swingshot target. We swing to the other side, where Nefarious promptly shoves me away from him.

 _"Excellent work,"_ the computer announces. _"You will make fine minions."_

"And then some!" I snark in reply.

 _"You have been scheduled for anger management class, minion."_

"Sure I have," I say. Ratchet just gives me a look, then shakes his head.

"C'mon, we have to keep moving," he said.

The door in front of us opens up, and there's the girl again. "Over here! You guys are pretty smart. She thinks you're one of them."

Or five of them, I think to myself.

 _"An interloper has been located in the Sector Two training lab,"_ the computer announces.

"Aw, man," the girl says. "That's my cue. Head through the lab to the equipment room. I left you a present at the charging station."

"What about you?" Ratchet asks.

"The minions are onto me," she says. "I'll lose 'em in the feeding station and meet you over by the south exit."

Then she leaves, and I see another Swingshot target.

"You're not getting another ride with me, squishy," Nefarious declares. "Ask someone else."

I look at Ratchet, who shakes his head. "You'd be too heavy for me to lift. And Clank wouldn't be able to, either." The Lombax then swings to the other side.

Qwark then walks towards me and says, "I can do it!"

I back away from him, not fond of the idea of clinging to his _spandex_. "Uhh, no thanks." Qwark looks disappointed, but doesn't press further. He merely swings to the other platform and waits for Nefarious and I.

"Fine!" Nefarious growls and grabs me unexpectedly. I let out a yelp. Okay, yeah, he's my favourite villain and I know pretty much everything about him, but this is... well, unexpected. We swing to other side, and I let go of the doctor before he can shove me off again.

"I hope we don't have to do this too often," he mutters. At this rate, I'm inclined to agree.

"At least we haven't run into any bad guys yet," I say aloud as we walk into the room ahead of us. And there are several of those gadgets that the one little girl had been using earlier. Five to be exact. Convenient.

Qwark walks over and pulls a piece of paper off the thing that the devices are sitting in. "Ooh, a letter. And it's written in macaroni! Dear Lombax, these Vac-U's will come in handy. Love Susie."

While he read the letter, I had gone over to inspect one of the devices. I press a button on it and Qwark's... well, butt gets sucked into it.

"Hey!" Qwark tries to pull himself out unsuccessfully.

Nefarious bursts out laughing hysterically. "My day just got a whole lot better!"

Ratchet just stares and rolls his eyes. I can't see Clank since he's hanging out on Ratchet's back still. I flush slightly, then pull the trigger on the device, shooting Qwark out... and he lands on top of Nefarious. The latter is obviously annoyed.

"Get off me, you moron!" Qwark immediately gets off the robot. Nefarious brushes himself off, giving the green-clad idiot a glare.

"Before we start killing each other," Ratchet tells them, "let's get to the south exit where the little girl said she'd be."

"I am inclined to agree," Clank says.

"Ditto," I say.

Qwark and Nefarious just look at us. The latter then snatches up a Vac-U. "Fine. We'll work together... for now."

. . .

 **And I'm gonna end the chapter here, because it feels like a good place to stop, and also because I'm a bit tired from writing. If there are any loopholes at all, let me know. Constructive criticism is appreciated. Now to point out a few things that are going to be different from the actual game:**

 **1\. Clank doesn't have the hookshot. He almost always hangs out on Ratchet's back in the previous games, so I find it unnecessary for him to have it in this story (even though he has one in All 4 One.)**

 **2\. I felt like Nefarious' inability to use his foot rockets _at all_ in All 4 One needed an explanation, so it's explained in the dialogue in this chapter. Sort of.**

 **This will get more interesting later on. Hopefully. We'll see.**

 **And I think that's all, really. See you all next time, and live long and prosper! :) *now I'm kicking myself for even doing this***


	2. II: Vac-U Training

**What'ya know? I actually managed to write two chapters for two stories today- one for _The Expanse_ and the other for this story. :) So, here's the second chapter of ****_Ratchet and Clank: Bending Reality!_** **:)**

 **YouTube videos really help when it comes to dialogue and levels, lol! Also, in case some of you are confused by Adara's behaviour, I'd like to point out that she hasn't played All 4 One.**

 **Now, let's get a move on.**

. . .

As we exit the room, Vac-U's equipped and ready, the computer announces, _"Attention minions. You have not been certified for Vac-U operation. Initiating tutorial program alpha-two-four."_

I roll my eyes and follow my... allies, I guess, onto a platform. A flash of light surrounds me, and we're teleported to another room. I blink, clearing my vision. "Hm. Nice." I poise my Vac-U, ready to use it when necessary, and follow my allies out into another room. There's a robot using a Vac-U to shoot strange metal orbs into what looks like an incinerator.

 _"The incinerator room has been locked down due to excessive messiness. Use your Vac-U's to deposit trash into incinerator."_

That's when the bot sees us. At first I think he's going to attack, but instead he decides to commit suicide by jumping into the incinerator. Ratchet stares at the spot the robot was a few seconds before. "Uh... that didn't look like a pleasant way to die."

"No kidding," I say, using my Vac-U to suck up an orb and shoot said orb into the incinerator. I look at my companions. "Am I going to do this myself, or are you guys going to make yourselves useful and help me?"

That got them going. Soon enough, all of us- even Nefarious- were working together to clear the room of trash. And after a few minutes, the room was squeaky clean.

 _"Objective complete. Incinerator room is clean. Congratulations, minions."_

"Does this mean I get your vote?" Qwark asks, excited. He's definitely pleased with himself.

 _"No. It doesn't."_

Qwark pouts.

Ratchet shakes his head. "C'mon, let's keep moving." We head into another room where there are crates full of what must be bolts. Where do those things even come from, anyway?

 _"Your Vac-U's can also be used to suck up crates and bolts."_

After hearing that, I run over to the nearest stack of crates with glee. "I call dibs on these!"

"Not if I get there first!" Nefarious shoves me aside and is about to suck up the crates with his Vac-U when I get back up and suck them up myself. The gauge on my Vac-U reads close to full. Nefarious just gives me a glare, then it turns to a smile. I think. It's hard to tell.

"Not bad, for a squishy," Nefarious comments.

"Thanks," I reply, then I turn to Ratchet, who just finished sucking up crates with his Vac-U. "I'm going to need something else to store all my bolts in- my Vac-U is almost full."

Ratchet turned to me. "I'm guessing you don't have a neural interface to store your bolts in, do you?"

I shake my head no.

"I'm sure we'll find something," Ratchet said. "Let's move."

 _"Objective complete. Excellent work, minions."_ We move into the next room, where the computer continues, _"Vac-U's can interact with any machine equipped with a power plunger."_

"Is it like a toilet plunger?" I ask jokingly. My companions give me a look. "What? Somebody was bound to say it sometime. I think."

We cross a bridge where we see four of the plungers that the computer was talking about. I aim my Vac-U and activate the plunger thingy. The others do the same with the remaining plungers. Well, except for Qwark, who just stands there because he has nothing to do.

The door in front of us slides open.

 _"Objective complete. Well done, minions. You are almost ready to go forth and oppress the Tharpods."_

"The Tharpods?" I repeat. Who are they? As we walk into the next room, I see the strangest creatures I've ever seen.

 _"These creatures have been released from their pens. Collect them using your Vac-U's."_

Clank looks somewhat alarmed by that. "That does not sound very comfortable for the poor creatures." By the time he's finished speaking, I've already sucked up one creature with my Vac-U.

Nefarious did the same with another critter. "You can't hide from me, little squishies."

The _way_ he says that is kind of adorable, but _what_ he says is just plain creepy. Now I feel sorry for the creatures, too. The room is now clear of creatures and my Vac-U is pretty much full. Why would we be capturing animals anyway? Eh... I have been begging for a pet lately anyway.

 _"Objective complete. Excellent work, minions. Your Vac-U's will store creatures using the master's patented zepto-shrink technology."_

"I certainly hope they don't suffocate in there," I mutter. I spot Qwark sniffing his armpits again.

He sees me. "What? Hero work creates body odor."

"And villainy creates crotchitisers," I shoot back. I look at Nefarious. "Uh, no offense."

"Offense taken," Nefarious replies, looking annoyed.

We go into the next room, where another teleporter platform waits for us. We step on it and... well, we're teleported. A few yards away is the edge of the platform. Not far away is another platform.

 _"Your Vac-U's can also be used to hurl your fellow minions across great distances."_

Suddenly my butt is sucked into a Vac-U. "Put me down! Put me down!"

"Shut up, or I'll launch you off the edge to your doom, squishy," Nefarious says, approaching the edge.

"Nefarious," Ratchet addresses warningly. Clank hops off his back and glares at Nefarious, about ready to scold him.

"Relax! It was a joke!" Nefarious shoots me to the other side. I land on the platform on my face.

"Ow!" I stand up, rubbing my face. "You're lucky you didn't break my nose!" I look and see a plunger next to me. I'm still holding my Vac-U, so I use it to pull the plunger.

A bridge rises in the gap between my allies and I. They cross it to where I am. When they've all reached my side, I deactivate my Vac-U and the bridge lowers itself.

Clank looks up at me. "Good work, Adara." Then he jumps back onto Ratchet's back.

"Thanks," I say. We make it to a forcefield, where a green switch is just sitting. It looks too high for one of us to jump on, so I suck Nefarious' butt into my Vac-U.

He's seriously annoyed. "What do you think you're doing?!"

"You scared the crap outta me when you shot me across that gap," I say. "Now it's time to return the favour. I'm going to shoot you upwards so that way you can hit that switch. Do you think you can get it?"

"Who do you think you're talking to, some dimwitted moron?" Nefarious asked. "Of course I can do it!"

I shoot him in the air and he hits the switch, just like he said he would. The forcefield deactivates. As we exit the room, the computer announces, _"Objective complete. Well done, minions. Your Vac-U training is almost complete."_

"That's three 'completes' in two sentences!" Qwark declares.

"No, it isn't," Ratchet replied. "It two 'completes' in three sentences."

"Oh." Qwark is disappointed. We step on yet another teleporter pad, and I wonder if all this teleporting in one day is all that healthy.

We're now in another room, where the computer says to us, _"Your Vac-U's contain a rechargeable nanotech dispersal unit. This enhances your ability to make your fellow minions less dead. Be sure to use your Vac-U's quickly in order to restore your fellow minion's health."_

"Obviously," I say. I walk a few feet and take a look at an orb that seems to be floating- and zap! I'm electrocuted. I'm on the ground, feeling very disoriented. I'm on the verge of losing consciousness when I find my rear in a Vac-U. Within moments, I feel like myself again. "Thanks."

"One person's vote can make a difference!" Of course, Qwark is my saviour, of all people.

"Right," I say. My butt is still stuck in his Vac-U. "Can you shoot me out of your Vac-U, now?"

"Er, yes. Sorry." Qwark shoots me out... and I land on a stack of crates, knocking them over.

I stand up, brushing myself off. "You _really_ don't know how hard I'm trying to keep all the swear words in, do you, Qwark?"

 _"Directive complete. Well done, minions. Your training is now complete. Gold stars for everyone."_

"Yay..." I say sarcastically. We head into the next room and we step onto a platform that starts moving across a rail.

 _"Congratulations on completing your training. You will now be transported to Sector Twelve for celebratory probing."_

"WHAT?!" I shriek, panicking. This can't be happening. Can it? "All that jumping around and swinging across ledges with a supervillain and getting electrocuted by stinking ORB!... and we end up being _probed_ as a reward? God help us all..."

Suddenly I hear a familiar voice. "Don't worry! A Galactic Scout never leaves an ally behind!" It's that girl! She activates a plunger, which moves our platform next to the one she is on.

I look at her and say, "Thank God! I thought we were goners! I thought... never mind what I thought."

"You're such a drama queen! Come on, let's get out of here!" Nefarious drags me off the platform as he speaks, our allies following. Then we hear it.

 _"Intruder alert. Intruder alert. All units converge on the minions in Sector Three."_

. . .

 **And that's the end of that. As you've noticed, some parts of this level have indeed changed for story-writing purposes. Anyway, see ya all next time!**


	3. III: The Plains, Part One

**Chapter three, everybody! :) You know one thing I hate about people? How they whine so much about stuff they don't like. There so many people who hate (or just dislike in general) the later Ratchet and Clank games. But you know what? I personally love every Ratchet and Clank game in the series. Especially A Crack in Time and All 4 One. And the original game. I love all the stories, short or long, crude humour or classic humour. And as for Ratchet's redesign in All 4 One, I honestly don't mind. I mean, yeah, I like the one from A Crack in Time more, but I don't see what the big deal is.**

 **The only game I've had a problem with is the new PS4 one, but only because the cutscenes are too similar to the movie. But I still love it (even though I've only watched videos on YouTube for it.) All the PS3 and PS2 games I already actually have. Except for Secret Agent Clank...**

 **Okay... now that my rant (which is obviously pretty unrelated to the story) is over, onto the actual story itself. And don't worry, I don't think there will be any more rants in the future.**

. . .

"Oh, you have got to be kidding me," I mutter, pulling my arm away from Nefarious. I look at the little girl. "Now _what_ do we do?"

"My mission is complete, so it's time to escape," the girl says. She uses her Vac-U to activate another switch and the door in front of us opens. I see a group of minions ahead.

"Crap…" I don't even have a weapon. Or perhaps I do. I look at the Vac-U in my hands. It functions pretty similar to a Suck Cannon… I charge to the nearest minion and suck it up with my Vac-U. Then I aim and fire at another minion a few yards away. It misses by a few feet.

"I can hit a stinking switch… but I can't hit a robot," I mutter.

As if to mock my failed attempt, Nefarious quickly destroys the minion I missed- using the same method as I tried! I give him a glare, then I grin. "Not bad, for a _robot."_

He just rolls his eyes, but there is definitely an unmistakable smile there now. I watch as Ratchet smashes the remaining minions with his wrench.

 _"Attention interlopers,"_ the computer announces. _"You have been found guilty of impersonating minions. You are hereby ordered to stand down and be executed."_

"I'd rather go down putting up a fight!" I tell the computer. "Even if it's a lousy fight…"

Ratchet shakes his head in amusement at my comment. Then he looks at the green switch above us. "Hey Nef, you ready to play switch activator again?"

Nefarious lets out a growl. "Fine…"

Qwark sucks Nefarious' rear into his Vac-U and launches him up to the switch. Nefarious manages to hit it, and the door in front of us opens. Ahead is a different minion, one with a green head and spinning blades.

Qwark lets out a squeal of fear. "I'm too handsome to die!"

Ratchet rolls his eyes and just blasts the minion with his Combuster. The robot blows up upon impact.

"Nice shot," I comment. Nefarious just grunts and Qwark sighs with relief.

 _"You must comply with my orders, or I will be forced to take drastic action!"_ the computer told us.

"Isn't this already drastic?!" Nefarious shouts at her.

She doesn't reply. We run into the next room, where we encounter more of those robots with spinning blades. Nefarious leaps at the nearest one and shreds its flimsy armour with his claws. I'm glad I'm not that minion. Ratchet blows up the other minions with his Combuster.

 _"Remember those gold stars I gave you for gadget certification? Look- no more gold stars. Try putting that on the fridge."_

"How in the stinking universe… ARE WE SUPPOSED TO PUT THOSE ON A STINKING FRIDGE IF WE'RE _DEAD?!"_ I shriek. "Now _I_ feel like I wanna short-circuit…"

My companions just give me a look. We head off into the next room. There are trooper-like minions in this room. Ratchet and Nefarious easily take them out while I hang back with Qwark, who is cowering in fear as usual.

 _"Attention interlopers. Your gadget certification diplomas now bear the shameful mark of the frowny face. Feel the agonising sting of disapproval."_

"Oh, yeah," Ratchet said sarcastically. "I'm really feeling the sting."

We open the next door, head down a corridor, and now we're outside. I take a deep breath. "Ah… nature…"

Qwark looks around with fear. "Ratchet… nature's not gonna attack… is it?"

"C'mon, Qwark," Ratchet tells him. As we walk across the ground, a pod suddenly lands in front of us. It opens up, and out of holographic projectors come the… well, projections of Cronk and Zephyr.

"Hello, rookie!" Cronk greets.

"Cronk? Zephyr? Man, it is good to see you guys!" Ratchet says, smiling.

"Great," I say, crossing my arms, slightly annoyed. "Now can you come and get us off this _rock_ before that idiotic computer lady decides to send more of her troops after us?"

Ratchet gives me a glare. Zephyr says, "Er, no can-do… wait! You're a Lombax!"

"I _know,"_ I tell him. "That's not important at the moment. Why can't you rescue us?"

"Well, we tracked President Qwark's and Ratchet's nav-units to planet Magnus, but _someone_ fell asleep and piloted us into a durn asteroid field!"

"Bet that's 'surprisingly boring!'" I say jokingly, then I laugh. They all just look at me like I'm a weirdo. I look back at them. "You don't get it, do you?" None of them reply, and I cross my arms, more annoyed than earlier. "No, of course you don't."

Cronk shakes his head and continues. "We're sorta stranded above the stratosphere, awaiting rescue. But don't worry. When they get us, we'll get you! In the meantime, we've hacked into an old spy satellite to monitor your positions."

 _"And_ we've set up a com-link with GrummelNet," Zephyr adds. "If you need weapons, just access one of these pods. We deployed them all around the surface of the planet. Then just wire us some bolts! We'll teleport the supplies to the surface."

We all nod in confirmation that we understand.

"Find a safe spot and hang tight, rookie. We'll get you off this rock," Cronk declares. Then he points at me, then Nefarious. "You two- I'm watchin' you!" The holograms briefly deactivate. Then Cronk appears again and says, "Whippersnappers!" Then he disappears.

"Oh, I'm really scared," Nefarious mutters sarcastically. I just roll my eyes.

"C'mon, let's go find that girl. What was her name again?" Ratchet asks.

"Susie," Clank answers. Still hanging out on the Lombax's back.

Susie, huh? Nice name.

I walk up to the pod and activate a holographic display that shows me the available weapons. Combuster? Definitely. Some weird energy-whip-thing (I can't read the language that this pod is displaying)? Good for short range, so yes. Next, Swingshot. Now I don't have to hear Nefarious complain anymore. I'm out of bolts now. Mostly because I had no idea what the prices were, because of the language, you know, and I didn't want to look like more of a moron than I already did. Probably would backfire on me later, though…

My supplies suddenly appear next to me, and I realise that I'm not going to be able to carry all this. Crap. Then I get help. Ratchet, who had been apparently been buying stuff too, hands me a neural interface. "Here you go. One neural interface. Don't worry, it's free."

"Er, thanks," I say, taking it. "Um, where do I put it?"

"On your belt," Ratchet answers.

I put it on. "Uh, what now?"

"Turn it on and all your weapons and stuff will be teleported into it," Ratchet explains.

I press a button on it, and what he says happens.

Qwark and Nefarious were watching us. Qwark says, "Wow, you don't even know how to use a neural interface?"

I give him a glare and he shuts up right away. Then I watch as Ratchet runs ahead to a gap and jumps over it to another… piece of ground? Are these pieces of land actually _floating?_ I guess so. Qwark jumps after Ratchet, then Nefarious. I look down and kick a rock over the side. I watch it plunge into the clouds below.

"Are you alright?" Ratchet asks.

I look up at them. They're watching me. I nod, close my eyes, and take a deep breath. _"Just pretend this is gym class,_ " I tell myself. _"Crap! I suck at gym class!"_ I shake my head, back up a bit, and then run. I jump off over the gap. But not far enough. My fingers barely grab the edge of the cliff. And there I am, hanging. With the ground who knows how far under me. Qwark is standing above me, watching stupidly.

"What are you waiting for, you moron?!" I ask, freaking out. "Pull me up!"

He quickly grabs my wrist and pulls me up to my feet. I stand there a moment, trying to calm myself down. "Please… tell me we _don't_ have to do that again."

I see Ratchet shake his head and he points at another piece of ground floating not far away. And we'd have to jump to it.

"Qwark," I say, about ready to faint, "I think I now understand why you fear nature so…"

Ratchet leaps to the next piece of rock. Then Nefarious, then Qwark. After they're on the other side, I run and jump. This time I land on my feet. I'm shaking pretty badly now.

"We can stop for a bit, if you want," Ratchet offers.

"No," I say. "The sooner we get past all this, the sooner we get off this planet, and sooner I can go home…" Then I realise. How the heck can I get back to Earth if I don't even know where in the universe it is? And even if I knew where home was, how can I go back as a Lombax? How am I gonna explain this? I shake my head of the thoughts. I'll worry about all that once we're off this planet.

After some more jumping around, we see Susie flying through the air in a hot air balloon.

"Susie!" I call. She spots us right away.

"I wouldn't stay here if I were you, misters and ma'am!" Susie calls back. "The gravity machines are pulling the plains apart! Follow me- I'll lead you out of here! I'd carry you guys myself if my balloon was bigger…"

"It's okay, Susie," Ratchet tells her.

Suddenly a few minions land in front of us.

"Er… we've gotta take care of these party crashers first, though!" Ratchet calls to her.

Susie nods, and steers her balloon to keep close to us. I think of the whip-weapon-thing and it suddenly appears in my hand, startling me. "Er… nice." I lash the closest enemy with it.

Ratchet bashes another robot with his Omniwrench. Nefarious slashes at another with his claws. Qwark actually destroys a few minions with his Combuster before hiding behind a rock. Soon the area is clear of bad guys and we're on our way.

"Nice job, you guys!" Susie calls.

I push a lever that I'm standing next to and a holographic bridge appears. We cross to the other side.

Then we hear Zephyr's voice, on Ratchet's comm, I guess. _"Hey rookies- good news! Cronk is signing us up for an online subscription to the Hall of Knowledge galactic database."_

Then Cronk starts talking. _"Entering credit card information, and… no, I do_ not _wish to receive exciting offers from outside vendors! Denied! Alright, we now have unlimited access to historical archives, wildlife studies, and points of interest. Everything you need to know to survive in a hostile environment."_

"Oh, so is this a death-defying vacation?" I ask sarcastically. Ratchet glares at me.

 _"I guess you could call it that,"_ Zephyr says over the comm.

After crossing another bridge, we come up to a platform where more minions. I equip my Combuster and try to shoot one of them. I miss so badly it would make a War Grok cry. "Nice job, Millhouse," I mutter to myself.

Ratchet manages to blow the minions to smithereens with his own Combuster. It's almost like rubbing salt in the wound. But I say nothing and walk up to a plunger. I switch to my Vac-U and use it to pull the plunger. About seven Swingshot targets lower to where we are. Ratchet, Qwark, and Nefarious grapple on. I equip my Swingshot and try to grapple on. I miss. I reel in the cable and try again. I hook on. Suddenly, the targets slingshot us into the air.

"Auuuugh!" I scream and flail my limbs around in terror as we fly up over the side of a floating piece of ground. While the others land gracefully land on their feet, I land on my butt. I wince in pain. "Ow…" I _really_ hate heights.

I stand up, rubbing my rear in pain. As we run across, the ground seems to shake under our feet. Then Zephyr confirms this by saying, _"According to our geo-scan, you're standing on top of some unstable ground. Try not to disturb anything as you make your way across."_

"Thanks, Zeph," Ratchet says over the comm. He approaches a plunger and uses his Vac-U to pull it.

A spinning Swingshot target thing teleports in front of us. We all grapple on and are flung to another floating piece of ground. I scream the whole way. So does Nefarious. I guess he's scared of heights now that he doesn't have his foot rockets functioning properly. Qwark screams like a girl, of course. Ratchet and Clank are the only ones who are apparently used to this, so they aren't screaming like the rest of us.

We land on the ground, a little worse for the wear, but otherwise perfectly fine. I brush dust off my sweater and glance at my companions, who are doing the same thing on themselves.

"We're gonna need serious baths after this," I say.

Ratchet shrugs as if this couldn't possibly matter. We run across the ground and then stop a moment to observe the critters running about. I immediately spot a stack of explosive crates (why someone just randomly put it there I don't even want to know) and see one of the critters approach it.

I equip my Vac-U and run towards the little creature, ready to capture it, when it bumps one of the crates, causing said crate to explode. I jerk to a halt in shock as blood and guts splatter my clothes.

I stare, entranced by it, sickened by it. I've seen blood before, from cuts and such, but not this much. And not with… oh my god… I've killed plenty of aliens on Ratchet and Clank, but I didn't think I'd see this much blood here. You don't see blood in the Ratchet and Clank games. At least, I don't think so…

The ground beneath me is shaking, about to collapse beneath me. But I don't notice, as I'm still in my trance. Suddenly a clawed hand grabs me from behind and pulls me to safety. It's Nefarious. His claws are digging into my neck as he speaks.

"Do you want to _die_ , squishy?!" He snarls. Then he sees my expression and lets go of my neck, muttering something inaudible. I look at him, feeling somewhat uncomfortable.

"Thank you," I say in a low voice. I look ahead of us, seeing more explosive crates. "We're gonna have to be very careful if we don't want to end up like that poor little guy."

"Yeah," Ratchet says.

"So much for clean underwear," Qwark comments. We all give him a look.

"Too much information," Nefarious mutters. I think it's safe to say we're all in agreement with him. Except for Qwark, who just looks offended.

"Everything alright?" Susie calls. She had moved her balloon closer so she could wait for us.

Ratchet looks up at her. "Yeah, we're okay," he tells her. He looks back at us. "Come on. We have to keep moving."

. . .

 **Okay, so I'm actually kinda proud of this chapter. There's more interaction between the characters now than there was in the game, but it's still sticking to the main storyline for the most part. And again, some parts of the level have changed. This'll be done a lot from here on out too.**

 **Also, kudos to whoever guesses what I have planned for Adara (but I guess I've kinda made that obvious, lol!) Anyway, live long and prosper and constructive criticism is appreciated. See ya all next chapter!**


	4. IV: The Plains, Part Two

**Fourth chapter! :)**

. . .

As we run across the ground, I see something move on a giant metal pipe up ahead. I could have sworn it was a robotic eye, but… that can't be right. We're about fifty yards away when, sure enough, a round robotic eye attached to the pipe snaps open. Its yellow iris stares down at us. We quickly come to halt.

I equip my whip, which is the only weapon I have right now that I can decently use. Suddenly some metal things pop out of the sides of the eye and release a group of red glowing drones. They approach us slowly, and Ratchet is the first to realise what they really are.

"Mines!" He blasts them with his Combuster. "We've got to destroy that deployment device, quick!"

I'm about to try and lash the eye with my whip, but of course, Qwark shoves me aside and equips his Plasma Launcher or whatever the heck it's called. "Stand back, civilian, and let a hero do his job!"

I give him a glare, but he doesn't notice. Qwark is about to shoot the eye when a drone approaches him. Qwark spots it and lets out a girlish scream, running off to hide behind a rock (again.) I lash the drone with my whip, destroying it. Then I swing my whip to lash the robotic eye when Nefarious leaps on said eye and slashes it. I have to twist to the side to avoid accidentally hitting him, and I end up slipping and landing on my already sore butt.

I watch, along with my allies, as Nefarious rips the eye to shreds "The doctor is in!" he declares, "And he _hates_ you!"

Okay, that was actually pretty clever of him. Nefarious, after having thoroughly torn apart the eye, leaps back down next to us. I'm still on the ground, looking at him with awe. That butt kicking was totally freaking awesome…

The robotic doctor looks at me and asks, _"What_ , may I ask, are you _staring_ at?"

"Will you marry me?" I ask. Then I facepalm with embarrassment. "Great… I just pulled a Ratchet…"

Ratchet and Qwark both burst out laughing. Nefarious is staring at them. So am I. I can't see Clank's expression, but his voice sounds slightly amused as he attempts (in vain) to reprimand them. "Ratchet, Qwark, you are being very rude…"

I stand up, giving Ratchet a glare. "Okay, enough laughing at my stupidity. Can we go now? Susie's waiting for us, you know. And I know _I_ don't want to be out here after dark!"

Ratchet nods, stopping his laughter. "Yeah, let's go. Still hilarious, though."

"Say that again and I'll sic a Zurkon on you. As _soon_ as I get my hands on one," I mutter, following my companions. Things are definitely gonna get worse, I'm sure of that. We approach the edge of this piece of land. I see a lever and pull it. A holographic bridge appears, allowing us to cross to the other side.

And up ahead, I see a magne-strip. Crap, crap, crap… I look at Ratchet. "I don't suppose you happen to have a spare set of magne-boots, do you?"

"Nope," Ratchet says, frowning. "You didn't buy any?"

"Er… no. And I ran out of bolts after buying a Swingshot," I say.

"Hookshot," Clank corrects me.

"Er, okay," I say. I look at Qwark. "Do you?"

"Nope," Qwark tells me. "We heroes don't need spares."

"Especially heroes with _spandex,_ " I mutter. "I'm guessing Nefarious doesn't have any spares?"

"No, I don't," Nefarious says. "And there's no way I'm carrying you after that... ugh, never mind."

I look up at the magne- strip again. There may be a solution to this… "Hm... maybe I can use my Swing- er _, Hookshot_ to make my way across. You see that overhang there? If I can grapple onto it, I should be able to pull a Lara Croft and just run to the other side while hanging on. Then I can disengage it and jump off to the ground."

I equip my Hookshot and aim it at the overhang. I grapple on after a few attempts, and I propel myself up next to the magne-strip. I look to my right and see a minion up ahead. Great… I equip my Combuster (I'm too far away to use my whip) in my free hand, aim it at the bot, and fire. I actually hit the minion and it blows up. Probably nothing more than luck, and I don't even believe in luck.

I then manage to run across the strip, disengage my Hookshot, and leap down to the ground below. I look up, and see my allies coming down the strip after me. I grin and say, "'Bout time you all showed up." I look up at the Hookshot targets and frown. More than one. One mistake could kill me.

I look at Qwark. "Eh… age before beauty? Wow, I couldn't think of anything better…"

"You're not calling me ugly… are you?" Qwark asks, looking hurt.

"No, no!" I say, gesturing for him to calm down. I don't like seeing people cry. Even a moron like him. "I just mean since you're older than me, you get to go first. That's all. I didn't say you were ugly."

Qwark smiles. "So you think I'm handsome?"

I cross my arms. "Don't push it."

Qwark leaps to the first Hookshot and swings to the next one. I look at Ratchet. He looks at me and says, "Don't worry. We'll be right behind you."

I nod. "Thanks." I aim my Hookshot and shoot it at the target. It latches on. I run and jump off the cliff. Suddenly I feel a jerk in my arm. A smear of pain rushes through it and I cry out. And there's nothing, _nothing_ but emptiness under my feet. I think I did some damage to my arm. And just when I'm getting into a groove with these crazy gadgets! I look down and see the clouds way, way down beneath me and I scream. I close my eyes and hold onto the grapple.

"Adara!" Ratchet shouts.

"She's done for," Nefarious says. Jerk.

I need to get to the other side or I'm dead. I swing to the next Hookshot target and grapple on. The pain in my arm is worsening. I can feel tears rushing down my face, wetting my fur. One more. One more. I hook onto the next one and swing. I disengage my Hookshot and land on the ground at Qwark's feet.

I sit up, leaning against a bolt crate. The green-clad idiot crouches down beside me. "Are you alright?"

"I will be," I hiss, "once you get out of my personal space!" While Ratchet and Nefarious make their way to where we are, I examine my arm. It looks like it got dislocated. I don't know how to get it back in the socket, though…

Ratchet kneels down next to me. Clank hops off his back and walks over to examine me. "It appears you have dislocated your arm."

"Nice observation, Sherlock," I say. "Can you fix it?"

"I believe so. I suggest that you hold still," Clank says. Within moments, my arm is back in its socket. But it hurts like heck still, obviously.

I stand up as Clank hops back onto Ratchet's back. I follow my allies, rubbing my arm. It doesn't help much. Suddenly, as I place my foot on the ground, I go catapulting through the air. "Yaaah! I had enough heights for one _lifetime!"_ I land back safely on the ground and look at my companions. They look as astonished as I am.

Suddenly a large robot flies over us, producing some kind of light blue energy.

Then we hear Cronk say, _"Wouldja look at that? There appear to be fluctuating gravity indexes all across your sector!"_

"You mean someone's messing with the gravity here?" Ratchet asks, taking a step forward. He goes flying through the air, then lands on the ground a few yards ahead.

 _"Yes,"_ Zephyr says, _"but why would anyone want to disrupt gravity on a planet? The damage to the ecosystem alone would be disastrous."_

"You think?" I ask sarcastically.

Ratchet glares at me again and this time has something to say. "You know, I'm getting real sick of your attitude!"

"Ratchet!" Clank reprimands.

"Sorry Clank, but she had it coming," Ratchet told him. "Adara, I know this is difficult for you, seeing as you're obviously not used to any of this, but complaining about the situation isn't going to do any good."

"It doesn't have to do good," I retort, "it just has to _feel_ good! Especially when my arm is _killing_ me!"

"Your whining could get us _killed!"_ Ratchet shoots back. "I was younger than you when Clank and I defeated Drek! You need to suck it up! I mean, you're complaining more than Qwark and Nefarious combined!"

"Please!" Clank calls, sounding desperate to keep us from pummeling each other. "If we are to work together, we must not argue. We need to focus on getting home. We cannot do that if we are at each other's throats!"

Ratchet sighs tiredly. "You're right, Clank. Let's go."

I nod in agreement. I watch as Ratchet hops (slowly, due to screwed up gravity) to another piece of land, then another. The rest of us follow. We then manage to reach some floating metal platform.

Then the minion we saw earlier approaches us.

 _"Sweet criminy!"_ Cronk says. _"That squeaky blue alien was right! An illegal gravity reflux generator! Take it down, rookies!"_

I'm tempted to make some remark, but I decide to shut my piehole and I equip my whip. I lash the minion, and its circuitry freezes up a few seconds. But it's not done yet. As soon as the robot starts functioning again, it shoots at me and I quickly jump to the side. Well, more like I float to the side.

Ratchet, Qwark, and Nefarious are blasting it with their Combusters. When I land back on the platform, I lash the robot with my whip again. The electricity freezes up its circuitry a few seconds again. My allies manage to blow it to bits then.

I watch as pieces of its armour land on the platform. I grin and proudly kick off a shard, saying, "Victory! In your face, gravity… thingamajig! Hey, the gravity isn't screwed up anymore!"

Susie spots us and calls, "Great job, misters and ma'am!"

Ratchet gives her a thumb's up, accompanied by a smile. "C'mon, let's get moving." We leap down on the platform below.

There are a few critters running around, and, shoving away the memory of that one creature dying, I use my Vac-U to suck up one of the critters while my companions get the rest. And that's when I realise- I seriously need to rest. I flop on my back onto the ground and ask my allies, "Hey, can we rest for a while? It's a wonder I've lasted this long…"

"Sure, I guess," Ratchet says. He calls, "Susie, we need a break!"

"Okay! I'm gonna land my balloon for now, then," she says.

I sit up and lean against a rock, watching Susie land her balloon. After securing it so it wouldn't get caught by the wind and fly away, she runs over to where we are. The rest of us are sitting down now, including Clank (who hopped off Ratchet's back earlier).

Susie plops down next to Ratchet excitedly. "I can't believe I've met you in person, mister! You're Ratchet, right?"

"That's me," Ratchet says. Then he gestures to each of us, saying, "This is Clank, that's Qwark, that robot over there is Nefarious, and the other Lombax is Adara."

Susie looks at me wide-eyed. "So when's the wedding?"

I cross my arms with irritation and reply, "Hate to break it to you, kid, but Ratchet's not my type."

"Clank?'

"He's adorable, but not in that kind of way."

"Then…" Susie points at Qwark. "Would it be him, ma'am?"

"Not in a million years," I say.

"Then Nef… Fen… what's the creepy robot's name again?" Susie asks.

I start laughing. "Not him either, of all people!"

"Really?" Ratchet asks with a raised eyebrow. "Then what _did_ you ask him after he ripped that one robot to shreds?"

I give Ratchet a glare. "It was a spur of the moment. Nothing more. Can we talk about something else now?"

Susie thinks a moment, then asks, "How did you all get here, anyway?"

"Clank, Qwark, Nefarious, and I were in Luminopolis when we were abducted by some giant sphere thing," Ratchet tells her. "I don't know how Adara got here. You saw she was being held captive like the rest of us were, though."

Susie looks at me. "So what happened to you?"

"I fell asleep reading at home," I tell her. "Next thing I know, I'm hanging upside down several feet in the air with no idea what the heck is going on." I frown, feeling saddened. "My family's probably pretty worried…"

Clank looks at me and says, "I am sure they will be pleased to see you when you return home."

"Ha!" I stand up, my sadness changing to amusement. "More like they won't even recognise their own daughter. Besides, for all we know, Earth could be on the other side of the universe. Or maybe it's at the center, give or take fifty _feet!"_ I close my eyes and shake my head. "I'm sorry. Just… just never mind. We should probably get moving. I feel better now. Really."

Ratchet nods, then looks at Susie. "Alright, lead the way, Susie!"

. . .

 **Guess it's pretty obvious where this is going now... lol!**


	5. V: The Tharpod Village

**Fifth chapter! :) Unfortunately, I'm having a bit of a writer's block regarding _The Expanse._ I know I want to do the escape scene for Cora and the others, but I'm having a hard time figuring out how to write it. If anyone has any ideas, let me know.**

 **Now, onto the story! Constructive criticism appreciated.**

. . .

After getting to another piece of land via Hookshot, we encounter more minions. While I lash one with my energy whip, my allies blow up the other with their Plasma _Bomb_ Launchers. Weapons, weapons…

Anyway, after destroying the robots, we latch onto yet another spinning Hookshot thing, and we're flung to another platform where we take out two more minions. Then we see a small pod on the platform. It's big enough for four people.

"Oh no…" I say. "Isn't there anything else here we can use?"

"Does it look like there is, Lombax?" Nefarious asks, glaring at me.

I cross my arms with irritation. "You're really annoying, you know that, right?"

"You're even more annoying," he shoots back.

"Eat my shorts," I say.

Nefarious looks at me with narrowed eyes. "What did you just say to me, squishy?"

"I'll say it slowly so that you understand… I said, 'EAT… MY… _SHORTS!'"_

"Will you two cut it out?" Ratchet looks at us, annoyed himself. "Obviously it's going to be difficult for us all to fit in that pod, but unless we all want to stay on this platform for eternity, I suggest we get this over with."

I let out a growl, then walk to the front passenger side. Of course, Qwark shoves me aside.

"Heroes sit in the front!" he declares.

I look at Ratchet while Qwark hops in. "I'm really starting to hate that guy."

"I can kill him, you know," Nefarious tells us.

"Uh, I don't hate him _that_ much," I say. We all hop in the pod and strap ourselves in. I sit in the back with Nefarious, who obviously doesn't want to be anywhere near me. While Ratchet and Clank try to figure out how to even activate the pod so the former can fly it, I feel a weight in my sweater pocket that I hadn't noticed until now. I unzip the pocket and feel around in it with my hand. My fingers touch something cold and small. And some cord or something. I pull the objects out and see what they are.

My iPod. And the earbuds are still plugged in. Huh. I must've forgotten to take them out.

"What is that?" Nefarious asks, looking at the device in my hand.

"Er…" I close up my hand and quickly stuff the iPod back in my pocket, earbuds and all. Then I zip it shut. "Nothing important. Just… something personal."

Susie pilots her balloon next to us at that moment and asks, "Do you need any help?"

The pod's engine hums to life then. Ratchet looks over at her. "No, I think we got it. Thanks, Susie."

Susie nods and moves on ahead. Ratchet turns back to the controls. "Okay, let's get this baby in the air!"

"Perhaps we should ask Susie about the controls," Clank spoke. "Some of them do not match anything in my database."

"You worry too much," Ratchet tells him. He grabs ahold of the steering wheel.

"Why do I get the feeling you just jinxed it?" I ask. I look at Qwark. "I don't suppose you brought any spare clean underwear?" Just as I ask that, the pod moves smoothly off the platform into the air.

Ratchet looks back at me a moment with a smug expression. "See? Nothing to it." At that moment, the pod plummets.

"AUUUUUUUUUGHHHHH…!"

A wave of stench hits me as the pod falls downward, and I could swear it's coming from Qwark, who's hugging Clank tightly in his fat arms. The green moron's eyes were shut. "WE'RE GONNA DIE!"

"I _HATE_ YOU ALL!" I shriek, gripping my seat in my hands.

"SHUT UP, BOTH OF YOU!" Ratchet shouts, pulling a lever. The pod rights itself and Ratchet pilots it back up to where Susie is.

She stares at us, wide-eyed. "Wow… that was… wow…"

"Totally awesome?" Ratchet asked, completely unfazed. "Yep!" The pod is following Susie's balloon now.

"More like totally _insane,"_ I mutter. I look at Nefarious, who's frozen and playing a broadcast of _Lance and Janice._

 _"Hello?! Police?!"_

 _"Yes. This is the police. What's your emergency?"_

 _"Lance has been turned into a zombie and is going to eat us all!"_

 _"Is this a prank call, lady? Get a life!"_

I slap Nefarious' face, bringing him out of it. He shakes his head, then looks around. "Are we dead?"

"I'm pretty sure we're alive and kicking," I say. Then I look at Qwark, who's still gripping poor Clank. "Uh, Qwark… I think you can let go of Clank now."

Qwark opens his eyes, then blinks a few times. "Oh, sorry." He releases Clank, who looks glad to be out of Qwark's armpit.

The little robot dusts himself off, then looks at Ratchet. "I told you we should have asked Susie for help."

Ratchet looks at Clank. "Eh… maybe you were right. But hey, we're still alive, right?"

 _"You rookies alright down there?"_ Zephyr asks. _"We heard a lot of screaming when we activated the comm."_

"We're fine," Ratchet told him.

"Aside from losing fifty years off all our lives," I add. Ratchet laughs at that one.

 _"Well, we just wanted to tell you that we're not finding a lot of information about Magnus so far. But we'll keep looking. In the meantime, try not to take any big risks, rookies,"_ Cronk says. _"The last thing we need is for you five to die on this backwater planet. And then us have to deal with trying to tell Miss Apogee what happened to her boyfriend."_

"Don't worry about us," Ratchet tells him. "We'll be alright."

. . .

 _The village…_

Ratchet lands the pod in the middle of the village, next to a fire pit where several villagers are cooking some strange fish creature. Susie flies her balloon over to where we are.

"It's not much to look at," she says. "Our last village was a lot nicer, but you-know-what ran us out of the woods. I gotta go land my balloon. I'll be right back." With that, she flies her balloon away.

Then we hear Zephyr say as we hop out of the pod, _"According to the database, these creatures are known as 'Tharpods'. They're a peaceful race that worships nature."_

"Stupid squishes that worship even stupider squishies?" Nefarious asks. "You're kidding."

"Actually," I say, "back on Earth, there are humans like that. I heard some even run around the woods naked."

"That's disgusting," Nefarious says, giving me a look.

"I'm inclined to agree with you," I say. "But freedom of speech is a big thing with some humans and I guess that's just… I don't know. Let's talk about something else."

I see Qwark run over to the fire pit and sniff the cooking carcass. "Mmmm… can I have some of that?"

The Tharpod cooking the creature glares at Qwark. "You have to wait, just like everyone else!"

Qwark pouts. Then I remember something that the computer lady had said to us.

 _"Objective complete. Well done, minions. You are almost ready to go forth and oppress the Tharpods."_

I look at Ratchet. "Ratchet, these are the people who that computer lady was talking about."

"Huh?" Ratchet asks blankly. Obviously he doesn't know what I'm talking about.

I look at Clank, who is standing beside him. "Clank, you remember, right?"

"Yes, I do," Clank replies. "During our Vac-U training. She claimed that we were almost ready to oppress them."

"Exactly!" I say. I look back at Ratchet. "There's something going on here, Ratchet. Susie said that something drove them out of their previous village. Maybe we can ask around and see what the Tharpods know."

"Look, Adara," Ratchet says, "Clank and I are… well, we're retired. We'd like to help the Tharpods out, but we can't. When we all get off Magnus, we'll notify the Polaris Defense Force."

"I never thought I'd see the day… but here it is, shooting me point blank in the face!" I cross my arms, suddenly angry with him.

"What are you talking about?" Ratchet frowns at me.

"Oh, nothing. Except it turns out that the 'Great Ratchet' who told me to quit being selfish is actually being hypocritical right here and now," I say to him.

"Excuse me?"

"These people obviously need help, whether it's from us or the Defense Force. I know was being a big jerk before, but after seeing this depressing town and hearing what Susie said, I'm changing my mind." I lower my arms to my sides. "You can leave if you want. But I want to find out what's going on and see if there's a way I can help. Personally, I'd rather not do this by myself."

Ratchet, Clank, and Nefarious all stare at me. Clank then says, "Ratchet, I believe we should stay and try to help these people. Adara is right. We cannot leave without at least offering our assistance."

Ratchet thinks a moment, then nods. "Alright, you win."

"So we're just going to run around asking questions all day?" Nefarious asks.

"Pretty much," I say. "We don't have anything else to do while we wait for Susie. Aside from watching Qwark plead with that Tharpod for lunch." I look at Qwark, who's practically groveling now for a piece of that fish-like creature that the Tharpod is still cooking. Then I hear my own stomach growl. "Eh… how about we start after we eat?"

. . .

An hour or so later…

After we finish eating, Ratchet looks at the Tharpod sitting on the log across from us. "So what are those minions doing to you? To the other villagers? Were they the ones who drove you out of your old village?"

"How do you know about that?" the Tharpod asks, a surprised expression on his face.

"That little blue squishy said something about it," Nefarious tells him.

"'Squishy?'" the Tharpod looks at him blankly.

"He means Susie," I say.

"Has anyone seen the antenna for my costume?" Qwark asks, touching the top of his head. "I can't find it."

We just ignore him. The Tharpod says, "Well… yes. The minions did drive us out of our old village. It was so much better than this one. We actually had running water there. And light bulbs! Now all we have are the clothes on our backs, our shacks, and candles. We have a lot of fires from people knocking 'em over all the time."

"Do you know who is controlling the robots?" Clank asks.

"No," the Tharpod replies. "Probably whoever is controlling Ephemeris."

"'Ephemeris?'" I repeat. The name sends a shiver down my spine for some reason.

"The creature collector," the Tharpod answers. At that moment, Susie shows up. One of those pink parrots is sitting on her helmet now.

"Sorry I'm late!" she says. "I had some trouble with the Gravoids, but it's all good now!"

I see Nefarious staring at the parrot. "Uh… you alright there, Neffy?"

He doesn't notice that I called him "Neffy." He just says, "I will be… once that creepy parrot stops looking at me like that!" We all start laughing at him, except for Qwark, who's still looking around for his antenna. Nefarious glares at us. "It's looking at me like… like… I don't know! Just keep it away from me!"

After a moment, we calm down and get back to being serious. "So what is the 'creature collector?'" Ratchet asks.

"It's a machine that goes around the galaxy, collecting creatures and bringing them here, to Magnus," the one Tharpod answers. "That's probably what brought you here." He then looks at Susie. "Can you take it from here? My wife's gonna kill me if I don't get that gardening done today."

"A Galactic Scout is always ready for anything!" Susie declares, saluting the Tharpod. He merely nods and walks away. Susie turns to us. "So… what else do you want to know?"


	6. VI: The Deadgrove, Part One

**Yeah, I managed to get two chapters written in one day. Lol! Constructive criticism appreciated.**

. . .

 _Late afternoon…_

"Well, we're pretty close to being out of gas now," Ratchet tells us as he pilots the pod towards our destination, the Deadgrove. "But we can still make it to the forest. There it is!"

"Yeah…" Qwark, who still hasn't found his antenna, says as we land the pod not so gently in front of the forest. "I'm not so big on the whole haunted forest thing."

"Oh, come on, Qwark," I say, hopping out of the pod. "It's all just superstition and you know it."

"It was nice of Susie to lend us those… Clank, what did she call them again?" Ratchet looks at Clank as they hop out of the pod with Nefarious.

"I believe they were called 'Glob Lobbers,'" Clank answers, hopping onto Ratchet's back

I look at Ratchet as the five of us walk into the forest. "Thanks, for changing your mind."

He looks at me and grins. "Nice to see you finally coming around."

"Your hero's nobility's rubbing off on me," I say, chuckling. I look at Qwark, who's trembling. "Stop being a baby. The worst that could be in this forest are creatures and minions. There's no such thing as a haunted forest. Or anything else related to that, for that matter."

"What about undead space pirates?" Qwark asks fearfully. "I fought them! They were real."

"Those pirates probably wanted you to think that for the sake of being terrifying. It's just playing on superstition," I tell him. "Same thing goes for that one DreadZone course and those space pirate ghosts from Rusty Pete's story."

"Say what?" Nefarious asks. "Isn't that the guy who owns that one hamburger place in Luminopolis that got destroyed by the Z'Grute?"

"Yeah," Ratchet says.

"Wait, I thought Rusty Pete was on Pirate Radio," I say. "Along with Captain… Slab? What was his name?"

"Captain _Slag_ ," Ratchet tells me. "Rusty Pete was on the radio until he got fired for breaking all the music records. You could hear every pirate swear word that Slag yelled at him on the radio. Guess somebody left the mike on or something…"

I raise an eyebrow, but say nothing. Clank then says, "Adara, you mentioned a planet called 'Earth' twice today. And a species called 'humans'. I cannot find such a planet or species in my database. Can you tell me about your home?"

"I guess," I say hesitantly. "It's a pretty primitive planet, compared to the rest of the universe, it seems. Earth is located at the edge of a galaxy called the Milky Way."

"Hm," Nefarious says. "Kerwan is located at the edge of Solana."

I look at him. "I guess other than the climate and similar species, our planets have something in common."

"Humans resemble the Aleerans?" Clank asks.

"'Aleerans?'" I repeat blankly.

"Qwark's species," Ratchet answers, looking at me with a raised eyebrow.

"Ah," I say. "Well, yes, except humans have five fingers instead of three. How about we just focus on the mission for now? We're not gonna find Commander Spog if we play twenty questions all day."

. . .

We're deep inside the forest now. As I suck up bolt crates with my Vac-U, I hear Cronk say, _"According to this satellite feed, there's a large sorting terminal one sector north of the Deadgrove. I'd bet my original rotator cuff that's where you'll find Commander Spog."_

 _"This readout says it can only be accessed by a subterranean railway station. Sorry, rookies- looks like the only way through is down,"_ Zephyr tells us.

"Thanks, guys," Ratchet says. "Keep us updated."

 _"Will do,"_ Zephyr says.

Qwark looks around fearfully. "It's… too…"

"Qwark," I say warningly, turning to him. "It's best to avoid phrases like that, you know."

He nods uncertainly. I look at Ratchet, who approaches the edge. Up ahead are more pieces of land. Great. More jumping.

We leap around a bit, and then we're standing on a small, inclined path. Up ahead is a squirming, slimy, yellow slug with red spikes.

"Ugh…" I look at the creature with disgust. "And I thought the slugs at _home_ were sick looking."

Qwark shoves me aside, nearly knocking me off the edge of the path. "Never fear, citizen! I, Captain Qwark, shall rid thee of this menace to your pretty eyes!"

"Qwark, perhaps it is best if we do not provoke this creature," Clank says wisely.

"Nonsense!" Qwark exclaimed. "Captain Qwark does not quiver in fear."

"Really?" Nefarious asks sarcastically. "Then what were you doing five _seconds_ ago?"

Qwark ignores him and charges up to the slug. He kicks it off the side of the path, and the ugly, yet poor creature squeals in fear as it falls to its death. After a big scolding from Clank, we move on, and encounter more of the slugs. I guess they weren't happy that Qwark murdered their buddy for no apparent reason, because they were pretty aggressive towards us.

We kill the creatures with ease, though I can't say I'm too happy about all the blood on my clothes. But I'm not as sickened by it as I was when that one critter got blown to bits. I equip my Vac-U and suck up some more bolts from crates. My allies do the same, when we keep moving. Up ahead, on a path not too far away, is some kind of armoured creature that looks a bit like a beetle. It does _not_ look friendly.

Ratchet says into the comm, "Cronk, Zephyr, up ahead is some weird beetle. It's got some kind of an armoured shell. What does the database say about it?"

 _"Uh… can you be more specific, rookie?"_ Cronk asks. _"There are a lot of beetles with armoured shells."_

"It's got an orange shell with purple tips," Ratchet says. "Does that help?"

 _"According to the database,"_ Zephyr says, _"it's a Magnus grove beetle. It has an armoured shell not unlike the sewer-dwelling ants of Ringus Minor. 'If attacked, explorers should search for, and attack, its unprotected belly.'"_

"How the heck are we supposed to do that?" I ask.

 _"Try knocking it upside down using a Plasma Bomb Launcher,"_ Zephyr replies. _"Then strike before it can get back on its feet."_

"Got it," Ratchet says. He turns to us. "Alright. Qwark and I will use our Plasma Bomb Launchers to knock it on its back. Nefarious, Adara, you attack its belly."

"Can somebody tell me why _she_ and _I_ keep getting paired up?!" Nefarious shrieks, annoyed.

I give him a glare. "I'm not thrilled about this any more than you are, but if we're gonna help the Tharpods, we need to get through this forest and find Spog."

"I don't even care about these stupid Tharpods anyway!" Nefarious says, crossing his arms.

"Then why are you still with us?" I ask. He glares at me. I continue, "That's what I thought." I equip my Arc Lasher (Clank told me what it was on our way to the forest).

After grappling onto the ledge and climbing up over it, we approach the grove beetle cautiously. It hasn't spotted us yet. Ratchet and Qwark equip their Plasma Bomb Launchers, aim, and fire at the same time. The beetle is sent flying off the edge of the path down into the chasm below.

I stare at the spot where the giant beetle was seconds before. "So much for attacking its belly."

"I'm in agreement with you on that one," Ratchet replies.

 _"Are you rookies alright?"_ Cronk asks.

"Yeah," Ratchet tells him. "But that beetle sure isn't."

"Let's get going," I say, walking away. "We can't stay here all day."

Ratchet pulls a lever, activating a bridge leading up to another strip of land. We cross to the other side and after some more leaping around, we reach a piece of land where we see a depressed looking minion getting a glass of water (since when do robots need water?) and then he spots us.

The minion panics, dropping his mug and running to the turret a few yards away. I stare, then shout, "Run!" We all jump to the side, dodging the blaster fire coming from the turret.

 _"Careful, rookies. That robot's using some kind of munition-resistant shield,"_ Zephyr says. _"Try to circle around him."_

"Thanks for the advice, Zeph," I say. I equip my Arc Lasher and continue, "I'll distract him. You guys try to get him from behind."

Ratchet nods and he and the others go around back while I draw the minion's attention.

"Hey, minion-dude!" I shout. The turret stops firing a moment, questioningly. "Would you like to buy a pre-owned crotchitiser?! It only costs fifty bolts!"

The turret points its muzzle at me and fires. I jump to the side to dodge, but not quickly enough. One of the blasts grazes my arm, burning it. "OW! Why you little- no pre-owned crotchitisers for you now!" Suddenly the turret blows up. When the dust clears, I see Ratchet and the others holding their Plasma Bomb Launchers. I give them a grin, then say, "Thanks for the save. I almost became fried Lombax."

"What about your arm?" Nefarious asks. "Looks pretty fried to me."

I look down at it and see the charred flesh. Blood is pouring out of the wound. I look at Nefarious. "Well, you're a doctor. Patch me up."

"Uh, _no,"_ Nefarious says. "Have Clank do it."

"Nuh uh," I say. "You've been a jerk to me for quite a while now. Maybe you should do something nice for once in your life."

Nefarious growls, equipping his Vac-U. "Fine, if it will get you to shut up." Within moments, my butt's in the Vac-U. My arm is soon fully healed, aside from a big scar. My sweater is another matter. It was just bloody before, now it's bloody _and_ scorched.

"With how much this sweater has gone through in the past few hours," I say after Nefarious shoots me out of his Vac-U, "it's gonna be rags by the time this is over."

Ratchet nods, then looks on ahead. "Hey, looks like there's something in that cave over there."

We head up to the cave and see a strange looking gadget lying on the ground. Ratchet picks it up, examining it carefully. Then he asks, "Hey, Cronk, Zephyr, we just found something in the cave here. It looks sort of like a jackhammer, but it's pretty old. And rusty."

 _"The database refers to that gadget as a Quakehammer,"_ Zephyr tells us. _"Tharpod prospectors use 'em to mine for treasure."_

 _"A mega-quake should take care of that rock fall. Try using the Quakehammer on it,"_ Cronk says.

"Okay," Ratchet says. He looks at us. "Better brace yourselves." Then he activates the Quakehammer, shaking the whole cave. I try to steady myself, but it's difficult, considering how much power that Quakehammer has. I wonder what happened to its previous owner?

I get my answer when the rock wall in front of us collapses. Us organics are coughing up a storm because of the dust. Obviously Clank and Nefarious are fine. When it clears, I look down at my foot, as something is laying on it. And what do I see? A skeletal hand sitting right there, _on my foot._ I scream and jump about five feet in the air. I land in a surprised Nefarious' arms.

We star at each other for a few seconds, then he drops me onto the ground. "It's just a _body._ Get over it. You squishies are so _squeamish."_

I stand up, dusting myself off. "Let's just never speak of it again. Please." I run out of the cave, and stand outside, panting. It's one thing to see an animal explode in your face. It's another to see part of someone's body up close.

Ratchet and the others come out a moment later. The Lombax walks up to me and asks, "Are you alright, Adara?"

"I will be… once I forget _that,"_ I say. But I know I never will.

We Hookshot our way to another strip of land, and after running down it quite a ways, we encounter another one of those turrets. This time Qwark ends up being the distraction (mainly because he was the first one to get shot at) and my allies and I manage to take it out pretty quickly.

We find a set of six Hookshot targets, which catapult us to another piece of land. And of course, there's another grove beetle. It gives us a glare, then prepares to charge.

Ratchet simply blows it up off the ledge with his Plasma Bomb Launcher. Then I see it. This is a dead end. "You do realise that we just trapped ourselves? It's a dead end!"

I see Ratchet eyeing a particularly long vine that leads from the strip of land we're standing on right now to another way down below. "Not exactly… we can slide down this vine to the other side. It looks like it's made of something similar to wood."

"Oh no…" I say. "I'm not going down _that."_

"I am certain it will be alright, Adara," Clank says.

"Yeah. Clank and I will go first if it makes you feel better," Ratchet tells me. The Lombax slides down to the other side.

"My turn!" Qwark shouts, sliding down the vine next. He reaches the other side easily.

Nefarious shoves me towards the vine, saying, "You're next, Lombax."

I look at him and say, "You know, it would be nice if you'd call me by my name once in a while."

Nefarious crosses his arms and replies, "Yeah, well, I'm _not_ nice, Lombax. You could die right here and now, and I couldn't care less."

"Hmph!" I turn away and put one foot on the vine, and slip. I nearly fall off the vine, but I manage to catch it with my hand. "I… _hate_ … _HEIGHTS!"_

I try to pull myself back up onto it, but nearly fall off again. I wrap my arms and legs around the vine, hanging on for dear life. My arms and legs are slipping, though. I need to get to the other side quickly, or I'm dead.

"C'mon Adara!" Ratchet calls, trying to be encouraging. "You can do it!"

I reach up, and my hand finds a branch. Okay. As long as it doesn't break, I should be able to pull myself back up. It's sturdy and holds fast. I pull myself over the side of the vine to the top. I plant my feet firmly and stand up slowly. I wobble quite a bit. I slowly start sliding down, then gain speed. It's getting harder and harder to stay balanced.

And then I fall again. I grab a branch and hang on tight. I'm close to the bottom now, though. I can touch the edge of the strip of land if I reach out with my other hand. Grasping the branch tightly, I reach out and grab the ledge. "Ratchet, can you pull me up?"

Ratchet nods and reaches down, grabbing my wrist. He pulls me up over the side and I stand there, panting, while we wait for Nefarious. Soon enough, he's down here with us.

I look at him. Nefarious looks back at me, expressionless. Then he says, "Not bad. Not bad at all."

"Er… thanks," I say. Then I look at Ratchet. "We should get moving."

Ratchet nods and we move on down the path. After we leap about some more, we find yet _another_ turret. Those things are _everywhere._ Qwark is the first one to get shot at again, so he ends up being the distraction. Ratchet, Nefarious, and I take out the turret from behind. And then we have more problems.

"Guys! My Arc Lasher's out of juice," I say.

"Let it recharge, then," Ratchet says. "You should use your Combuster in the meantime. The rest of us have been alternating between weapons to save power. You should do the same."

"But I'm terrible at using my Combuster," I say. "My shots make Qwark look like the champion of weaponry- which he most certainly _isn't!_ My Arc Lasher is the only weapon that I'm actually decent at using."

Ratchet sighs. "Then how about this- we'll make camp here for the night, and you can practice using your Combuster."

"Wait, we're stopping?" I ask.

"I guess so," Ratchet says. "I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm pretty tired. I could use a break."


	7. VII: The Deadgrove, Part Two

**Seventh chapter! :) Constructive criticism appreciated!**

. . .

 _Evening…_

We're all sitting in front of a fire now. Ratchet has a stick with one of those slugs attached to it over the fire. According to Cronk, it's edible. Obviously we removed the spikes.

I practiced shooting with my Combuster earlier, with Ratchet's guidance, but I still need more training. A lot more training. Now I'm just waiting for dinner, as unappetising as it looks. And smells.

"Maybe we can sing campfire songs!" Qwark suggests as he eyes the slug. He must be _very_ hungry if he's even _thinking_ about eating that. "Or tell stories!"

"I'm up for a story," Ratchet says. "What about you, Clank?"

The little Zoni robot is sitting beside him. He looks up at Ratchet. "I suppose a story to pass the time would be good."

"I'd rather just power down and wait for morning," Nefarious says. "But I guess I'll stay awake for a story."

"I'll tell a story," I say. "If you guys don't mind, that is."

"Sure," Ratchet says. He takes the slug away from the fire, examines it briefly, then goes back to cooking it. Guess it's not done.

"Okay." I adjust the way I'm sitting in the dirt and think a moment. What story could possibly interest them? I'd tell them a _Star Wars_ story, but then they'd probably want to know more, and then I'd be telling them the whole _saga._ And I'm not gonna tell them about _Young Frankenstein_. They just wouldn't get it.

I decide to make up a story of my own, about a lonely traveler who meets her soon to be lover on a backwater planet. But a war erupts between the two dominant species of that planet. The traveler's lover, who is the leader of one of the dominant species, is assassinated. The traveler takes out her anger at this on the entire planet by using the enemy species' experimental weapon to destroy the planet. Yep, that was pretty messed up.

My allies (or are they my friends now?) are entranced by the story. Even Nefarious is hanging onto every word. By the time I'm finished, that slug is finally done cooking.

"That was quite a story," Ratchet says, tearing the slug into three separate chunks for us organics.

Qwark starts eating his piece the second he gets it. While still chewing, the green-clad idiot asks stupidly, "So… what was the story about again?"

I shake my head and start eating my piece of slug meat. It actually tastes pretty good. Who knew? I wonder what the expression on my mother's face would look like if I told her I ate a slug.

"That was an interesting story, Adara," Clank says. "What made you pick that particular one?"

"I actually made it up," I say.

By now we've finished our meal.

Qwark yawns. "Well, I'm gonna hit the hay. Good night." With that, he lay back in the dirt and soon enough, we heard snoring.

"I'm gonna go to sleep too," Ratchet says, also laying back in the dirt. "Thanks for the story, Adara." Then he falls asleep too.

"You're welcome," I reply. Clank retracts his limbs and powers down. I lay back in the dirt, using my arm for a pillow.

Then I hear Nefarious say, "That was an… interesting story."

"Thanks," I say.

"Mhm," came the reply.

I sit up and look at him. He's staring at the fire, obviously thinking about something. I then remember the iPod sitting in my pocket. I walk over to Nefarious and sit down next to him cautiously. I unzip my pocket and take out the small device. "You wanted to know what this was."

"I didn't say I _wanted_ to know," Nefarious says. "I was just… curious. But go on."

"It's an iPod," I tell him. "It plays music. Maybe it still has some power…" I turn on my iPod. I type in my password. When it comes to the home screen, I see the battery is at 79%. Better than I hoped. I tap on my iTunes app and select a song. It's _Innocence_ by Avril Lavigne. I put one ear bud in my ear, then hand the other to Nefarious.

"Put it next to your audio receptor," I say.

Nefarious looks at the device suspiciously, then does as I say. I see the expression on his face go from cautious to surprise. "She has a beautiful voice. For a squishy, I mean."

"She does," I say in agreement. "Her name's Avril Lavigne. She's a musician from Earth. Next to _Slipped Away_ , this is my favourite song by her."

"Mhm," is all Nefarious says in reply. He's too focused on the song. I guess he likes it.

Eating a slug for dinner. Telling a story to your friends. Sharing music with a villain. This is one interesting evening.

. . .

 _Morning…_

 _"Rise and shine, rookies!"_ Zephyr greets over the comm. _"How's our favourite group of crazy misfits?"_

I jerk awake, and then rub my eyes. I hear Ratchet reply, "We're doing fine, Zephyr. How are you and Cronk?"

 _"Eh… could be better,"_ Cronk says. _"My arm's startin' to squeak from rust."_

 _"I thought I_ told _you to use that oil lubricant last night, Cronk!"_ Zephyr shouts.

I sit up, sleepily listening to the conversation. Clank and Qwark are awake now. Qwark says sleepily, "If you thought Courtney Gears was sexy in real life… well, you should have seen her in my dreams last night!"

"Qwark," Clank says, "we did not need to know that."

Nefarious is awake now too. "Not need to know what?"

"Uh, nothing important. Let's get moving, guys," Ratchet says. "We still have a long ways ahead of us."

We follow Ratchet a ways, leaping around a bit, then cross a holographic bridge, and then we encounter a _pair_ of turrets. Great. While Qwark jumps around screaming his head off about how he's "too handsome to die," the rest of us take out the turrets from behind.

Qwark looks at us and says, "Why am _I_ always the one who gets shot at?!"

I just shrug. "I guess these minions just don't like _green."_

We use a set of Hookshot targets to slingshot up to the top of a cliff. Ahead is a cave, which we head into. It's a dead end, since part of it has caved in.

Ratchet equips his Quakehammer and uses it, quickly breaking up the rocks that stand in our way. Lots of dust and dirt in the air again but at least no bodies this time. We come out the other side of the cave.

Then Cronk says, _"We have a lead on the railway station. Our scanners picked up some Collector activity in an old Tharpod mining camp directly beneath your position."_

 _"The minions must be moving in and out via the rails,"_ Zephyr says. _"If you can find the camp, then you should be able to find the station."_

"Thanks guys," Ratchet replies. "Keep us posted." He looks at us and asks, "Ready to kick some more butt?"

"Captain Qwark never backs down from a challenge!" Qwark declares proudly.

I roll my eyes at that. "Alright, Qwark, prove it. Go on _ahead,_ then. We'll cover you from the _back."_

Qwark gives me a look, but doesn't say anything. We reach a gap, and so I use my Vac-U to pull a plunger. That activates a holographic bridge, and we cross to the other side. Except that's a dead end.

"What now?" I ask.

 _"From the looks of these scans,"_ Zephyr says, _"the ground beneath you is somewhat unstable. You can probably use your Quakehammer to break it up."_

"But what's going to keep us from plunging to our deaths?" Ratchet asks.

 _"There's a strip of land directly under. That should keep you from becoming rookie pancakes,"_ Cronk says.

"Alright," Ratchet replies, "let's do this thing." He uses his Quakehammer, and cracks start spreading on the ground.

I look at each of my friends. "This is gonna hurt."

The ground beneath us collapses and we fall. Then we land on a another piece of land beneath. After dusting ourselves off once again, we go on our way. We kill more slugs and then use a small, rusty old elevator to get down to the next level below.

And we kill several more stupid slugs. Yep, pretty uneventful so far. We cross a holographic bridge to another elevator, which is so rusty and damaged that we can't even use it.

"We will have to find another way down," Clank says.

 _"According to these scans, the rock beneath you is weak,"_ Cronk says. _"Well, rookies… looks like you'll have to fall down to the next level."_

I let out a sigh. "Alrighty. Is it a short enough fall where we aren't going to suffer any major injuries?"

 _"From the looks of it, yes,"_ Zephyr replies.

"Thanks, Zeph," Ratchet says. He equips his Quakehammer and after shattering the rock under our feet, we fall down. Bruised and battered, but otherwise fine. I look to my right as the dust clears and I see a grove beetle, who seems startled by the fact that we just intruded its domain.

Ratchet is up on his feet and quickly uses his Plasma Bomb Launcher to knock the beetle upside down. I equip my Arc Lasher (which recharged last night) and lash the beetle's stomach. The beetle thrashes around a bit, then slumps to the side, dead.

I look at my allies. "Shall we move on?"

Ratchet nods. We cross an old, rusty bridge to the other side, where we find two Hookshot targets. Ratchet latches onto the first one, then swings and grapples onto the next one. Each of us follow his movements exactly. This time my arm doesn't get dislocated. But it's pretty sore by the time I get to the other side.

Up ahead is a platform. We walk over to it, and see there's a gap. I look down the gap. There's another platform below. I don't see anything down there, but I'm still nervous. "I have a bad feeling about this. We should probably stick to the upper platform."

"What, are you _afraid,_ squishy?" Nefarious asks.

"I'm just saying we should be cautious," I tell him.

Ratchet is studying the railing up above us. "Maybe we can get across with our Hookshots." He grapples onto said railing and manages to swing to the platform. Qwark follows, then Nefarious. Then me.

"Well, that was easy," I say. Suddenly the floor disappears from beneath our feet and we fall to the one below. "I just had to jinx it, didn't I?"

We stand up and see a turret pointing its muzzle at us. I quickly try to draw its attention. "Hey, minion-dude! Yeah, you! You want to rent an iron diaper? It's only sixty bolts an _hour!"_ The turret starts shooting at me and I dodge while my friends get behind it and take it out. That was relatively easy. And this time I _didn't_ get burnt.

We use a set of Hookshot targets to slingshot up to another strip of land, where we run down an incline and cross another rusty old bridge. Up ahead, there's another turret. Qwark is the distraction (again), and we destroy the turret quickly.

"Now that's what I call _maximum annihilation!"_ I declare, kicking a piece of metal from the now decimated turret.

"Hey, that's my catchphrase!" Nefarious objects. "Get your own!"

I laugh in amusement. "Aw… you don't want to share?"

The robot just lets out a huff and says, "Let's get moving."

As we Hookshot our way to another platform, I see something move out of the corner of my eye. Way down on the ground below, I see it. "Guys… there's some giant purple maggot with legs squirming around over there. And it doesn't look very friendly."

I'm on the platform with my allies now, and we run down it while Zephyr tells us, _"Looks like a carnivorous wigwump. According to the database, they're native to Sargasso and extremely ill-tempered. Ephemeris must've brought it to the Deadgrove to simulate its natural habitat."_

 _"I'd give that wigwump a wide berth if I were you,"_ Cronk says. _"Those things use fourteen different stomachs to digest their prey."_

"And I thought cows were weird with _their_ stomachs," I mutter. _"This_ is downright freaky."

We Hookshot our way across a gap, then take another rusty elevator down to the next level. I equip my Vac-U and suck up some bolts from crates. I wonder how many bolts I have now.

I look behind one of the crates to see if there are any bolts I missed, and I see two jetpacks. "Hey guys, check this out!"

My friends, having gotten their share of bolts, come over to inspect.

"Huh," Ratchet says, picking up one of the jetpacks. "I wonder how these got here."

"Do you think the wigwump…?" I shake my head. "Never mind. I don't wanna know."

"So who gets the jetpacks?" Nefarious asks. "There's only two."

"I don't need them," Ratchet says. "I've got Clank."

"Okay," I say. "So then that leaves Qwark, Nef, and me."

"'Nef?'" Nefarious repeats. "Seriously?"

"You got a problem with it?" I ask. "I could always call you _Neffy_ …"

"Ugh, just get on with it!" Nefarious is obviously annoyed now.

"Okay, uh, Qwark, you can have this one," Ratchet says, handing Qwark one of the jetpacks. Then he looks at me, then Nefarious. "Uh… not sure how this is gonna work out."

"Just give it to Nef," I tell him. "If I need to fly anywhere, he can just carry me."

"In your dreams!" Nefarious gives me a glare. "You're starting to get on my nerves-!"

"Shut up, both of you!" Ratchet interrupts. "Nefarious, you quit whining and carry her when needed." Then he looks at me. "Adara, save the flirting for _after_ we find Spog."

"I was _not_ flirting!" I shout, suddenly very irritated. I shove past the Lombax. "Let's just get moving."

Today was a bad day.


	8. VIII: The Deadgrove, Part Three

**Chapter eight! :) Constructive criticism appreciated! By the way, I totally recommend Avril Lavigne (who was mentioned in the previous chapter), she's _awesome!_ You can find a lot of her songs on YouTube.**

. . .

Of course, we have to use the jetpacks soon after we get them. I'm holding onto Nefarious tightly as we all fly down a large shaft. I look down below us and see several large gears moving. We all move to the side so we don't get squashed by said saws. Cronk was right when he said it looked like the minions left some of the equipment running.

I try to make conversation with my friends. "So, uh, Ratchet, why did you and Clank retire anyway?"

"Well, we were kinda tired of battling evil all the time, so we wanted a break," Ratchet says. "So we retired. But it's like they say, no rest for the weary."

"You got that right," I say. "What about you, Qwark? You mentioned getting votes more than once. Are you some kind of politician now or something?"

"Indeed I am, citizen!" Qwark says proudly. "I'm President of the Polaris Galaxy!"

I look at Ratchet with astonishment, then at Nefarious, who says, "Don't look at me! I'm not one of the morons who voted for him!"

I look at Qwark, and ask, "Who's the _Vice_ President?"

"Skrunch!" Qwark replies proudly. "He beat Pollyx by three thousand votes!"

I frown. "An entire galaxy… being run by two complete _morons?_ Somebody tell me I'm dreaming…"

"Unfortunately that is not the case," Clank says.

I look at Nefarious. "So how'd you end up with us? And where the heck is your butler? Isn't he almost always with you?"

Nefarious gives me a glare. "Lawrence up and abandoned me when my Z'Grute plan went haywire! When I get my claws on him, I'm gonna kill him!"

"Okay…" I then ask, "What's a Z'Grute?"

"Its full name is the Light Eating Z'Grute," Clank informs me. "It is a large creature whose main source of food is from power sources. Dr. Nefarious unleashed one in Luminopolis and it nearly destroyed the city. That is when we were abducted and brought here to Magnus."

As we move around to avoid more of those giant saws, I ask, "Why did he unleash a Z'Grute in Luminopolis? Did he just do it to see everyone get mauled or what?"

"I did it because I wanted to see Qwark, Ratchet, and Clank finally be _annihilated!_ " Nefarious frowns as he speaks. "And now here I am, running around, trying to save the day, and carrying a stupid _squishy_ down this stupid _shaft!"_

"Okay, seriously!" I snap, suddenly angry with him. "What's your problem with organic lifeforms?! _You_ were organic once yourself. So why are you so antagonistic towards us organics, huh?"

"None of your business!" Nefarious snarls. "And if you keep bothering me with questions, squishy, I'll just drop you and let you fall down this shaft!"

I let out an irritated growl. "Well, if you're gonna be that way, then I'd rather take a ride with _Qwark!_ At least _he's_ making an effort to get along!"

Nefarious just rolls his eyes in reply. Suddenly there's a tremor throughout the shaft. We all look up and see a huge row of saws coming down after us.

"Things always get worse, don't they?" I ask.

"You got that right," Ratchet says.

 _"Is everything alright down there?"_ Zephyr asks.

"How can everything be _alright_ ," I ask, frustrated beyond words right now, "when we're all about to get _chopped_ into little pieces by giant _saws?!"_

 _"Er… sorry, rookies?"_ Zephyr replies questioningly.

I tighten my grip on Nefarious as the five of us fly through the maze of saws. Some are so close to each other that it's a miracle we all squeeze through without getting cut. Then we hit a dead end, and it seems like the end.

"If we all die here today," I say, "I just wanna say that it's been a great run and that I consider you all friends. Even you, Nef. Despite the fact that you are so annoying."

Ratchet gives me a look. "We're not dead yet, you know." He equips his Plasma Bomb Launcher and blows up the saws with ease. "See? Now let's get outta here!" We all fly on through the now open gap and enter a vent. Soon we're on the other side and safely on the ground.

As I let go of Nefarious, I hear Qwark announce, "Well, I've run out of spare clean underwear!"

I give him a look. "Qwark, did we really need to know that?"

"Well, I was just saying, in case you have some spare-"

"Ugh, Qwark, you are disgusting!" Ratchet says, wrinkling his nose. I think we're all inclined to agree. With Qwark as the exception, who just pouts.

"Perhaps we should get moving and discuss this er… problem later?" Clank suggests.

"Yeah, let's do that," I say.

"Oh fine," Qwark says, looking annoyed. "But don't blame me for the smell."

"Hey, _you're_ the one who _crapped_ yourself!" Nefarious tells him.

"Didn't anyone hear what Clank just said?" Ratchet asks.

I let out a sigh. "Yeah, guys. Spog _first_ , then undie squabbles _after."_

After ending the underwear debate, we use a set of Hookshot targets slingshot to a strip of land where we encounter more of those slugs. We easily take them out and as we move down the incline, Ratchet spots a minion on another piece of land ahead. "Time for you to utilize your Combuster skills, Adara."

"I'm still not very good at it," I tell him. "Shouldn't I use my Arc Lasher?"

"It's better if you start learning how to hit moving targets from afar," Ratchet says. "Especially if they've got guns too."

I nod and equip my Combuster. We dodge the minion's bombs (this one has a bomb launcher of some kind) as we shoot him down. I manage to land one or two hits, but it didn't do much damage. Still an improvement, I suppose. After a minute or so, the minion is down and out for the count.

We cross a holographic bridge to the other side, where the now decimated minion lies. I use my Vac-U to pull a plunger, which lowers a set of Hookshot targets. We use them to get over the side of a cliff up ahead. After we land on the ground, I run ahead to use my Vac-U to suck up some bolts. Except my foot hits some switch hidden under the dirt, and a forcefield appears, surrounding me on all sides.

"Oh no…" I turn to my friends, who are looking at me with fear and concern. They start using their weapons on the forcefield, trying to overload it.

Then I hear it. I turn to see a pair of minions land directly in front of me.

I equip my Combuster, since the minions are the bomb launching type again. I shoot at the one on my right, getting a hit before I have to dodge a bomb. Then I get an idea. I switch to my Vac-U and when one of the minions launches a bomb at me, I manage to suck it into my Vac-U. Then I aim and fire at one of the minions. I blow that one up, so there's only one left.

Then suddenly something hits me from behind, knocking me on my front. I look and see a group of those smaller minions, the ones that look a bit like upside-down helicopters. I equip my Arc Lasher and quickly destroy them. Suddenly something explodes right next to me, causing me to jump away in fear. I let out a growl, and shoot at my attacker with my Combuster. It was the bomb launching minion. That little… I blast him mercilessly, using up all of my weapon's power on him.

Soon the minion was nothing but a pile of smoking scrap metal.

Then the forcefield flickers, then deactivates. I look at my friends and smile. "Took ya long enough."

Suddenly I find myself being crushed by Qwark's fat arms. In other words, he's giving me a really big hug. I'm lucky my ribs aren't collapsing in on themselves. "Qwark," I wheeze, "I can barely breathe… lemme go! Also, you smell _terrible!"_

The green-clad idiot lets me go. "My apologies, citizen," he replies, flushing. "But you… well…"

"Qwark," I say, raising my hands for him to stop. "Just… don't. Don't." I look at Ratchet. "Shall we get moving?"

Ratchet nods, and we run up to a ramp, which leads to the railway station. I give a fist pump. "Yes!"

 _"You made it!"_ Cronk exclaims, sounding as pleased as I am. _"Haha! Nice work. That railway platform should take you directly to Commander Spog."_

"Thanks guys," Ratchet replies as we get onto the railway platform.

"In your face, nature!" Qwark says, jumping in the air for joy.

Then Clank says, "Something tells me we are not out of this yet."

Ratchet pushes a lever, and the platform starts moving. "Don't worry, I'm sure everything will be fine."

"In that case, mission accomplished!" Qwark declares.

"Whenever somebody says something like that, _something_ will _definitely_ go wrong," Nefarious replies.

"I'm inclined to agree with Clank and Nef on this one," I tell Ratchet and Qwark. "We should proceed with caution." As the platform moves smoothly along, out of a tangle of vines on the rock wall to our left charges the wigwump. The wigwump, snarling angrily, grabs the railing in front of the platform with its teeth and literally rips it to shreds.

The platform, still moving, falls off, and we start falling with it. Clank activates his Heli-Pack, allowing him and Ratchet to glide smoothly. Qwark activates his jetpack. Nefarious catches me by the wrist and activates his jetpack too.

"If I have to keep saving you," Nefarious says while pulling me up close, "then maybe I should just kill you myself."

I wrap my arms around him. "Haha, very funny. But we have other things to worry about… like that stupid wigwump!"

As we all glide down the shaft, the wigwump crawls down after us, snarling and gnashing its teeth. Yep, it definitely hates us. Then it crawls into a hole, out of sight.

But there's no way in heck it's done yet. The chances of _that_ are nil.

 _"We're losing visual on the thermal scan!"_ Zephyr says. _"Keep heading down! There may be another railway station at the foot of the cavern!"_

I press my ear against Nefarious' chest, listening to his gears whirring, trying to calm down. My adrenaline pretty much skyrocketed when that wigwump decided it was going to eat the railing and send us to a dark, cold grave at the bottom of the cavern.

Yep, this is one heck of a day.

Suddenly, not far below, the wigwump pops out of another hole and looks up at us, growling. Ratchet equips his Combuster, aims it at the wigwump's face, and fires. The creature lets out a yelp and scurries back into its hole.

 _"Zeph! What do we do?!"_ Cronk asks, sounding panicky. _"I don't want to have to tell Miss Talwyn we let her friends and that strange Lombax get digested by a carnivorous wigwump!"_

 _"Hm…"_ Zephyr tells us, _"Next time that wigwump's distracted, try attacking it again like you just did. Maybe that'll make it back off!"_

"Okay," Ratchet replies.

We go down a ways, and then the wigwump pokes out of another hole, glaring up at us. It opens its mouth to roar. Ratchet simply equips his Plasma Bomb Launcher and shoots a bomb into said wigwump's mouth.

The bomb explodes upon impact. The wigwump snarls and crawls back into the hole.

We glide for a few minutes without interruption. Then the wigwump comes out of another hole, this time above us. Except now it's really going for the kill. It crawls down after us, growling and snarling.

 _"We're picking up some strong seismic activity,"_ Cronk tells us. _"You okay down there?"_

"That wigwump's chasing us now," Ratchet replies, looking up at the angry carnivore. "And it's _not_ happy."

 _"Oh no… this is getting bad!"_ Zephyr is obviously distraught.

 _"I guess we'll have to prepare our memorial speeches,"_ Cronk says. _"It's been an honour knowing you, rookies…"_

"WE'RE NOT DEAD YET, YOU MORONS!" Nefarious shrieks.

I might've gotten ear damage from that.

Ratchet is in agreement. "We're well ahead of the wigwump, guys. We still have a chance of surviving this!"

Then we're at the bottom of the cavern. I let go of Nefarious and look up. The wigwump crawls into a hole in the rock wall, out of sight.

Ratchet, looking around, says, "We must be in the wigwump's burrow. Maybe we can reason with it, you know? Bond with it or something?"

"I find that highly unlikely, seeing as it got a bomb launched in its mouth earlier," I reply. "And even if it didn't, I don't think it's gonna pass up a good meal of Lombaxes, robots, and… uh, whatever your species is, Qwark. The name slipped my mind just now."

Qwark doesn't seem to care about that, really. In fact, I don't think he even heard any of what I just said.

"As the highest-ranking member of our team, I believe I can handle this one," Qwark says as the wigwump peeks its head out of a pool of steaming water sitting in front of us. The "President of Polaris" walks up to it and says, "Fair wigwump! We seek peace with you!" Smiling sheepishly, he grabs me and shoves me a ways forward, continuing, "Please, accept this Lombax as a sacrifice, and satisfy thy bloodlust!"

I give Qwark a glare. "When we get out of here… I'm going to _kill_ you for that!" Then I back away from the wigwump as it watches us with what must be confusion by our behaviour.

Then its confusion subsides and it snarls at us. We quickly equip our weapons and start blasting the creature.

This is gonna be one heck of a battle.

"Look out!" Ratchet shouts as the wigwump shoots magma out of its mouth at us. We jump to the side to avoid the fiery projectile. Then Qwark of course decides he's gonna try and save the day by trying to negotiate with the wigwump again.

"Oh fair wigwump!" Qwark says. The wigwump halts its attacks questioningly. I almost wonder if it can understand what he's saying. "Maybe we can make a deal? If you let us live…" He lifts his hand slightly and a crotchitiser appears in his hand. "… I'll give you a brand new crotchitiser, free of charge! It has a new special vibrating function I call the 'Happy Platypus!'"

The wigwump roars in his face. Personally I think what Qwark said only made it madder. It opens its jaws, about to snatch the green moron into its gaping maw. I scrabble onto my feet and, equipping my Arc Lasher, I… well, lash the wigwump's face.

It breaks off its attack, shaking its head in pain. I give Qwark a glare. "Be grateful I didn't decide to let it eat you."

Ratchet is now bombarding the wigwump with his Plasma Bomb Launcher. Nefarious watches a moment, then does the same thing. The wigwump snarls at us, blood dripping from its wounds.

I switch to my Combuster, as does Qwark, and we all blast the creature. After a few more blasts, the wigwump decides to get creative. It ducks under the pool of water out of sight. Then, after a minute, it springs up, and snaps at us. It manages to grab Nefarious by the arm and lifts the robot into the air.

With his free hand, the doctor slashes its face with his claws. "PUT ME DOWN, YOU INSOLENT CREATURE!"

I look up at the ceiling of the cave, then back at Nefarious. It's a long shot, but if my grapple can get a good stick, I can make it. My turn to save _his_ stupid butt.

I aim my Hookshot at the ceiling, and latch on.

"Adara!" Ratchet shouts. "What are you doing?!"

"I got this," I call back.

"I am certain she knows what she is doing," I hear Clank say.

I propel myself upwards and swing, grabbing Nefarious' wing. "Need a little help, Mister 'I-Hate-Organics?'"

He glares at me, but then says, "Just get my arm out, squishy!"

I nod, then disengage my Hookshot. "You'll need your jetpack."

"Why?"

"Just equip it," I tell him. He obeys. I equip my Combuster in my free hand and shoot the wigwump's sealed mouth.

It lets out a cry of pain, and Nefarious' arm is out. We start falling backwards, and then Nefarious activates his jetpack. We rocket backwards onto the ground next to our friends, landing on our backs rather ungracefully.

Ratchet looks at us, grinning. "Let's finish this."

I nod, standing up. I switch to my Arc Lasher and lash the wigwump while my friends blow chunks out of the creature with their Plasma Bomb Launchers. After thoroughly decimating the wigwump, the carnivore finally slumps to its side, dead. It slides backwards into its pool.

We stand there, panting. That battle really wore us out.

"Let's get out of here before one of its buddies or something shows up," Ratchet says.

And we scramble out of the burrow faster than you can say "Qwarktastic."


	9. IX: NEST, Part One

**Ninth chapter, everyone! :) Constructive criticism is appreciated. Also, I'm thinking of rewriting some of chapter seven. Thoughts? Also, I did include a weapon that wasn't in All 4 One, but whatever. I like the weapon.**

. . .

Outside the burrow, we are surrounded by dark, towering trees. Creatures with glowing eyes look down upon us ominously, their bodies hidden in the shadows.

That final sprint must have drained the rest of Qwark's energy, because he flops backwards on the ground tiredly. "That's it!" he wheezed, raising his hand dramatically. "You all saw it! President Qwark felled the mighty beast!" Then he let his hand fall to his side.

I halt and look down at the moron. "Correction. We _all_ felled the mighty beast."

Nefarious halts as well, looking up at the creatures staring at the five of us before glaring down at Qwark. "Someone want to get Fatty McMouth Breather an oxygen mask? I'm not gonna carry him if he passes out!"

I start laughing hysterically at his joke. "Maybe he's Obese McStink Butt!"

Now we're both laughing while Qwark looks up at us with a forlorn expression. Wait, we're both laughing? Nefarious actually liked my joke. All of a sudden my chest feels very strange. Almost like-

"Ahem!" Clank draws our attention. He had hopped off Ratchet's back earlier, evidently. He lifts up a strange object in his hands. "I believe I may have found something."

We all walk over to him. The object suddenly flies out of his hands, and floats in front of us. A screen pops out, and we first see a cartoonish-looking tree on the screen. The camera moves to view a city, in ruins and on fire.

 _"Holo-diary 0-0-5. They came during the night,"_ came the voice of the narrator. _"Hundreds of them. And they attacked without warning. I stood atop Zuzzo Fields, and watched in horror as Commander Spog and his armies lay waste to Uzo City._

 _"Through ribbons of fire, I saw my creation, bloated and terrible, a deadly moon hanging silently amongst the destruction. Ephemeris. What plans does my enemy have for this ark? I can't explain it, but I feel as if some dark fate haunts us all from the future, and Ephemeris is the key._

 _"These… things will not stop with Magnus. We are simply the first steps. And I, Dr. Frumpus Croid, cannot shake the feeling that it was my work that made it possible."_

Then the holo-diary ends. The screen goes blank.

"According to this holo-journal," Clank tells us, "whoever is controlling Ephemeris has a plan for these monsters. I have a bad feeling about this. We must find Commander Spog at once."

I frown, then look up ahead. "Looks like Zephyr's theory was right. That railway station should take us directly to Commander Spog."

Ratchet nods, and we board the platform. Ratchet pushes a lever, and after a moment, the platform starts moving with a squeak from all the rust. As we move along, Clank turns to me and says, "Our conversation about Earth ended rather abruptly."

"Indeed it did," I reply, crossing my arms and looking away, at the railing.

"Perhaps you could tell us more about it?" Clank asks.

I look at Clank. "Maybe. No. Yes? I'm not sure. I mean…"

"It's alright if you don't want to talk about it," Ratchet tells me.

I let out a sigh and look at my friends. "Even if we got off Magnus, there's no way I can go home."

"What are you talking about?" Nefarious asks, sounding incredulous.

"I'm… not really a Lombax," I tell them. "Or at least, I wasn't before this whole thing started. I was just an ordinary human, in college, trying to get a degree." I frown and look down at my feet. "Even if we knew where in the universe Earth is, I couldn't go back. They'd think I'm an alien. Scientists would want to study me, maybe even dissect me. The government is so corrupt, I'm sure they'd find some excuse."

Ratchet puts a hand on my shoulder. "I don't think they'd be that despicable."

"They would," I say. "The people on my world are total buttheads."

I let my hands fall to my sides. "Even the rest of the universe has its imperfections. Like sending people to their deaths in arenas or death-courses."

"Oh yeah," Qwark says. "I've been meaning to rename the Imperial Fight Festival. I was thinking maybe something like… actually, I don't have an idea yet."

I roll my eyes. "Right…"

Then we're hit by rays of light as the platform finally comes out of the tunnel. I look up at the blue sky and forget my sadness for the moment. "Finally… out of all that gloominess."

"You said it," Ratchet replies.

 _"Here we are,"_ Cronk says. _"The Northern Extraterrestrial Sorting Terminal, or N.E.S.T. We managed to land a pod near your position. I suggest you get some supplies while you can."_

We run up to the pod, and I start cycling through the weapons. I buy a Zurkon, and I immediately spot it. A pair of Razor Claws. Heck yeah! I immediately purchase them. Then I move onto gadgets. Magne-boots. Check. Grind Boots. Check. And now I'm out of bolts. Again.

After my new tools are teleported into my neural interface, I equip my Razor Claws. Dang, those blades are awesome. I look at my friends, who are waiting by a set of Hookshot targets for me. Our jetpacks need time to recharge, so we can't use them right now.

We slingshot up over the cliff and climb up over the small rock ridges. We get up to the top, where we see a raised bridge across from us. There's nothing here we can use to lower it.

"Guess it's high time we tried out our new Glob Lobbers," Ratchet says, equipping his Glob Lobber. I equip mine as well and we use them to shoot some kind of weird, heavy jelly-like substance onto the bottom of the bridge. Slowly, after much splattering from the Glob Lobber, the bridge finally lowers.

I look at my friends, smiling. "I don't suppose this doubles as a jelly gun?"

My fiends just look at me like I'm weird. We cross the bridge and it looks like the main route into N.E.S.T. is blocked off by a massive metal gate. Cronk confirms this when he says, _"Looks like the main road is blocked off. Spog's minions must be attacking that Tharpod settlement."_

"Then we have to help the Tharpods," I say. "If they're in danger-"

 _"Finding Spog is the main priority right now,"_ Zephyr interrupts. _"There has to be another way into the N.E.S.T. We'll perform a satellite sweep of the sector. In the meantime, stay outta trouble. Especially you, strange Lombax girl!"_

"My name is _Adara!"_ I snap.

 _"Alright, alright,"_ Zephyr says. _"No need to get cranky!"_

"And there's no need for you to be a total a-!"

Ratchet interrupts our squabble by saying, "Stop it, both of you. Let's get moving. Spog's gotta be around here somewhere."

"Well, I doubt he's taking a vacation on _Pokitaru,"_ I mutter.

 _"To your right, there is a path that will take you directly to Spog,"_ Cronk says.

As we run past some forlorn looking Tharpod villagers, one of them steps in front of us. We halt so that we don't bump into him. The Tharpod looks at us with a light of hope in his eyes and says, "Spog's minions have overrun the settlement! Can you help us stop them?"

I hang back at the back with Nefarious, looking down at my feet. I hear Ratchet say, "We'd like to help, but right now we're looking for Commander Spog. I'm sorry."

I look up and see the Tharpod walking away sadly. The gloominess I was feeling in the Deadgrove is flooding back. "We should do _something._ We can't just leave them like this."

Ratchet turns to look at me. "I promise once we find Spog and stop Ephemeris that we'll come back and help the Tharpods rebuild. But right now we need to keep moving."

I look down at my feet sourly and don't reply. We head on down the path to a gate, where we pull a rusty old lever to open said gate. I follow my friends though the gateway and cross another bridge to the other side.

"With his allies alert and rectangular, Captain Qwark leads the assault on N.E.S.T.!" Qwark is doing one of his stupid monologues again. And it's obvious he has no idea what "rectangular" even means. "Ratchet- the vigilant someday-to-be-hero. Clank- the nerd. Nefarious- the crazy mad scientist and nerd numero two. Adara- the third nerd. And I, President Copernicus Leslie Qwark-!"

"Your middle name is _Leslie?"_ I interrupt, looking at Qwark with a raised eyebrow.

"It's what my parents would've named me if I had been born a girl," Qwark objects.

I shudder at that. "So _that's_ where he gets it from." Then a group of minions come up over the side of the bridge. They halt a moment, startled by our presence.

I equip my Razor Claws and slash the nearest minion clean in half. Ratchet bashes a few with his Omniwrench, and Nefarious rips off others with his claws. I have no idea where Qwark went.

Soon the area is clear of enemies. I switch to my Vac-U and suck up bolts from a stack of crates. Then I see Qwark hiding behind said stack. "Really, Qwark? Really?"

The green-clad idiot looks up at me, embarrassed. "Uh… I had to… um, pee?"

"Save it, Qwark!" I snap. What a coward! "I know you're hiding back here because you're scared!" I shake my head with annoyance. "Just come out. There aren't any bad guys left."

Qwark comes out of his hiding place, looking at each of us. "Uh, right… let's move on, shall we?"

Ratchet nods, and we run down the next bridge. Another group of minions show up, equally surprised as the last. They're quickly brought down by our weapons. I really do enjoy using my new Razor Claws.

But there's a barrier in the way of where we need to go. Ratchet just equips his new weapon, some kind of missile launcher, and blows up the barrier with ease. "Never underestimate a weapon of mass destruction."

"Especially the Lombax _handling_ such a weapon," I say. We head down the bridge and I spot some kind of… blue jelly-like substance splattered on it. I stare at it. It's moving as though it's alive… "Guys… _what_ is _that?"_

We all halt and look down at the slime. Ratchet says into his comm, "Cronk, Zephyr, we just found some kind of strange blue jelly-like blob. And it's moving. Does the database say if it's dangerous?"

 _"Oh, that's not good,"_ Zephyr says. _"That's weevoid toxin. Those nasty critters fling powerful binding agents on their prey in order to trap them."_

"You have got to be kidding," I say.

 _"Unfortunately, he isn't,"_ Cronk replies. _"Tread lightly, rookies, and keep an eye on those blobs. They can be very unpredictable."_

We start running past the blobs, watching each one carefully. Some move around a bit, but so far we haven't had any trouble. We're almost to the other side where a platform awaits, when one of those blobs decides to attach itself to Ratchet's leg. "Uh, guys, a little help here?"

I run over to him, jumping over a couple blobs on the way, and look at the blob. "Cronk, Zephyr, what do you do if one of these things is sticking to your friend's leg?"

 _"Oh dear!"_ Zephyr says. _"Alright… here we go. Try shocking it with something electrical. That should drive it away."_

I nod, equipping my Arc Lasher. "This is the only weapon I've got that produces electricity." I look at Ratchet. "Brace yourself."

He nods, and I lash the weevoid toxin. The blob jerks, then pulls quickly away from Ratchet's leg. We both start running, avoiding the blobs. We manage to reach the platform blob free.

"Great work, team!" Qwark compliments. Then he says, "I've taught you well!"

I cross my arms and roll my eyes. "Yay us…"

"Also, I managed to buy some new clean underwear with that Apogee pod thing," Qwark tells us. Like we really needed to know that.

I say sarcastically, "Thank you, Qwark, for that completely and utterly unnecessary information."

"Your welcome, citizen," Qwark replies, grinning stupidly.

I ignore him now and just push a lever, which causes a set of Hookshots to lower. We slingshot to another piece of land, where we're approached by a strange, scorpion-like creature.

"Let me guess," Nefarious says. "That's the weevoid itself."

 _"You guessed right, Doc,"_ Cronk replies. _"Watch out for their tails. That's where their toxin comes from."_

"Huh," I say as we dodge a blob that the weevoid decided to launch at us. "So they are kinda like scorpions. Except it seems they prefer to launch stuff at their prey rather than sting them." I equip my Arc Lasher this time. I honestly don't want to know what those things are like up close.

We attack the weevoid, blasting and lashing it. Eventually, after a few minutes, the creature finally dies. That thing is strong. I look at my allies. "I don't think that was the last of them."

"Obviously not!" Nefarious snarls. What's his problem?

"Okay, Nef, what's the problem?" I ask.

He gives me a glare and pushes past me. "Let's just get moving."

I shake my head. Who cares if he's feeling grumpy? I follow my friends down the path, suddenly feeling a wave of anticipation. Time to go find Commander Spog.

We run across the next bridge, and suddenly a jolt runs through it. We all look back. The bridge is collapsing.

"Run!" Ratchet shouts.


	10. X: NEST, Part Two

**Chapter ten is up! :) Sorry I couldn't post yesterday, but I was pretty busy. Hope you all like this, and constructive criticism appreciated!**

. . .

We all start scrambling across the bridge, trying to get to the other side before the structure collapses entirely beneath us. We're almost there, almost- a board collapses beneath my foot. I just manage to grab the post at the edge of the cliff. My friends are already on the other side, safe and sound. I swing myself around the post onto the ground.

"That bridge _hasn't_ been used in a while," I say, panting.

Ratchet nods in agreement.

Qwark then says, "Uh, I'll be right back." He goes behind a stack of crates. I have a good idea of what he's doing back there, so I just leave him be. He's gonna run out of spare clean underwear very soon at this rate. When he's finished, we take a look around.

"It's a dead end," I say.

Ratchet raises an eyebrow at me, then points at a group of mushrooms growing on some vines leading to another piece of land. "I think I have an idea."

"Oh no…" I shake my head. "If I die here, it's gonna be your fault."

"I am certain it will be alright, Adara," Clank tells me.

Ratchet leaps to the first mushroom and bounces off onto the next. After some more bouncing, he's on the other side. Qwark shoves me aside. "My turn! I love trampolines! I know! New law for when we get off this planet- all citizens in the galaxy must have a trampoline!" He leaps to the first mushroom and go through the same pattern as Ratchet. After reaching the other side, he turns and shouts, "Come on! Even one vote makes a difference!"

"I really _don't_ care about your _stupid_ presidency _crap_ , Qwark!" I shout back. Then I look at Nefarious. His face is expressionless, so I can't tell what's going on in his mind. He looks right back at me wordlessly. Seriously? No comment? Okay. Not my problem. I turn away and leap to the first mushroom. I bounce off and miss the second mushroom. I quickly equip my Hookshot and grapple onto the ledge where Ratchet, Clank, and Qwark are.

"Adara!" Ratchet is watching from the edge, horrified. Qwark doesn't look as concerned, but he is watching too. I propel myself upwards to the edge. I grab ahold of said ledge and pull myself upwards. I look at Ratchet and Qwark. "What's up?"

"Why is it that you always have to give us a heart attack?" Ratchet asks as Nefarious makes his way to us.

I shrug. "Where I come from, we don't have mushroom trampolines that are thousands of feet in the air." I glance at Nefarious, who's now here with the rest of us. He doesn't look very happy. "What? You're not happy I'm not a squishy pancake?"

Nefarious just grumbles something inaudible and turns away. I roll my eyes and look at Ratchet. "Shall we move on?"

Ratchet nods, and we head down the path. Suddenly a weevoid jumps out of a nearby bush and pounces on Qwark. Naturally the latter freaks out.

"Auuuugh! Nature is attacking!" Qwark frantically tries to shove the creature off as he runs around in circles. "Get it off, _get it off,_ GET IT OFF!"

"Hold still, Qwark!" Ratchet tells him. "Stop running for two seconds!"

That's useless, because Qwark just keeps running in circles. That weevoid has a good grip on his head, but it can't do anything with the green idiot moving around so much. After a few minutes of this, Nefarious lets out a growl of frustration.

"This is getting _ridiculous!"_ The robot jumps forward and snags the weevoid with his claws. The creature squeals and lets go of Qwark's head. Nefarious throws the weevoid on the ground and starts slashing it. Soon the weevoid is pretty dead. "Ha! So weak, stupid, and squishy!"

I just cross my arms and say, "With how many creatures we've battled, we seriously need baths."

"I would have to agree," Clank says.

"Getting dirty is part of the job," Qwark tells us. "You can't have one without the other."

"That doesn't make any sense in this situation, Qwark," I retort. "You're basically saying that if you're being a hero, you get dirty. _That_ part makes sense. But you're also saying that if you get dirty, you're being a hero."

Qwark thinks this over. "I don't get it."

"No, of course you don't, because you're an idiot, and you can't think about things more complicated than that fact that two plus two equals four," I tell Qwark.

"I thought two plus two equaled forty zillion," Qwark says stupidly. Forty zillion isn't even a number!

I let out a growl of frustration. "Forget it. You obviously can't understand even simple math. You even said one time that being a hero was- oh, never mind! Let's get moving before I decide to shoot you just for being stupider than a Sandshark."

"What's a Sandshark?" Qwark asks, proving my point. "Is it yummy?"

"Just shut up!" I reply. "And I don't even know, or care, if they're even _EDIBLE!"_

We run down the path, across a bridge, and we use a set of Hookshot targets to slingshot up to the top of the cliff ahead. We start using our Vac-U's to suck up some bolts from crates when a group of fly-like robots come buzzing toward us. One of them shoots a laser at me and misses by a few inches. I equip my Arc Lasher, and run towards the nearest robot and lash it. My friends shoot the other ones with their Combusters. These minions sure like their lasers, because they keep trying to shoot us, even though it's pretty useless considering their terrible aim. Soon the minions are down.

Ratchet then points to a small pool of water nearby. "Hey, Adara, you wanted a bath. Better take one now, while there's still a pool nearby."

I raise an eyebrow. "Who knows what's in there! Besides, I'm not comfortable… you know, with you four around, because you're all guys..."

"We should at least restock on our water supply," Clank says.

Ratchet nods in agreement. "Will do."

After adding more water to our supply, we run on down the path, across an old wooden bridge (which thankfully doesn't collapse), and reach the other side. There, we're attacked by a trio of weevoids.

"Auuuugh! MORE NATURE!" Qwark shrieks before jumping behind a rock. I hate that guy.

We defeat the weevoids with ease, and spend about ten minutes trying to coax Qwark out from behind the rock. Then we swing across a Hookshot target to the other side. After climbing a ways, we encounter a patrol of minions, whom we easily annihilate- great, I'm starting to sound like Nefarious.

Anyway, after destroying said minions, we ride a rusty old elevator up a cliff side. There we meet a panicky Tharpod who's hiding behind some debris from a building. His head is partially hidden in his shell. He looks at us fearfully and whispers, "Be careful, dudes! The minions are attackin' the settlement." Blaster fire whizzes by, and the Tharpod lets out a shriek. He hides completely in his shell- head and all.

I equip my Zurkon Glove and deploy him for the first time. Zurkon's first words as he pops out of his case are, "Yooohooo! Mr. Zurkon is looking to kill you!" He charges at the nearest minion and shoots at him. I then switch to my Combuster. By that time my friends have already blown up most of the minions. I get in a few shots of my own, destroying one. Well. That was pathetic.

The Tharpod peeks his head out of his shell. "Are they gone?"

Ratchet kneels down next him and says, "Yeah. You okay there?'

"Yes," the Tharpod says uncertainly. "Who… who are _you_ dudes?"

Qwark then shoves Ratchet aside and says, "We are the… uh… the…"

"Q-Force?" I suggest, crossing my arms. I only thought of that because this Tharpod sounds a bit like Skid McMarx.

Qwark immediately pounces on the suggestion. "Yes! We're the Q-Force!"

"I have no idea what that is," the Tharpod says. "But it sounds cool."

Zurkon is hovering next to me, unsure of what to do. "Are we done with the killing?"

"Yes, we are, Zurkon," I reply. "For now."

"Mr. Zurkon is bored," Zurkon tells me.

"Maybe we should get moving before Zurkon starts shooting civilians?" Ratchet suggests.

"But this could be good for my approval rating!" Qwark says stupidly.

Nefarious then says, "I'd like to see some more squishy guts."

"Okay, that settles it," I say, grabbing Nefarious' and Qwark's wrists and dragging them away from the very confused Tharpod. After heading down the path a ways, I let go.

"Mr. Zurkon finds this amusing!" Zurkon declares. "Mr. Zurkon finds this hilarious! Ha, ha, ha…"

"Zurkon's gonna find his face in a dumpster in a minute here!" I snap.

"Mr. Zurkon is sorry," Zurkon replies. Then, after a moment, he continues, "Psyche! Mr. Zurkon isn't sorry at all!"

"Just tune him out, Adara," Ratchet says. "He'll shut up eventually."

"Mr. Zurkon does not like orange Cazar fur ball," Zurkon says. Zurkon seriously thinks Ratchet is a Cazar? Huh. We run into another group of minions. Another Tharpod is hiding behind a stack of crates.

"It's firing!" the Tharpod shouts as one of the minions starts shooting at us. "Take cover!"

Qwark starts running around, screaming his head off. Zurkon is busy insulting a minion while blasting it. Ratchet is blasting another minion with his Combuster. I don't know where Nefarious went. I run up to the minion that Zurkon is distracting, and I'm about to slash it with my Razor Claws when Nefarious appears out of thin air. He rips the minion to shreds with his claws.

I look at the robotic doctor. "That was… good. Very good." I'm not sure what else to say.

He just grunts and disappears again in a flash. Must've bought some kind of cloaking device from the Apogee pod. It definitely suits him.

After destroying the last minion, the Tharpod comes out of his hiding spot. "Thanks! I gotta go find my wife now. I hope she's alright…" The Tharpod runs off then.

I watch him a moment, then look at my friends. Nefarious has deactivated his cloaking device, so I can see him now. Qwark has finally stopped damaging all our eardrums with his vocal cords. I really wish he had a mute button. I say to Ratchet, "With the increasing amount of minions we encounter, Spog can't be far away. We should probably keep moving."

Ratchet nods. "Yeah, I agree."

"Mr. Zurkon wants to continue _killing!"_ Zurkon informs us.

We just ignore him and he shuts up.

Then we hear a computerised voice say, _"Please, remain calm, gather your belongings, and relocate to the corner of 'We Don't Care' and 'Not Our Problem.'"_

Why, of all the most _monstrous_ things to say… I wish I had a R.H.Y.N.O. right now, so I could blow that computer lady to smithereens for what she said! Then I'll stomp all over her remains and rip apart every last shred of her circuitry that survived the bombardment of missiles! Then I'll-!

 _"You know what?"_ Zephyr says over the comm, interrupting my increasingly violent train of thought. He sounds enraged as he speaks. _"Forget what I said about staying out of trouble. Let those minions have it!"_

"YES!" I shout, jumping in the air for joy. Yep, today's a good day for blowing things up. "LET'S GO RIP THOSE BAD GUYS A NEW ONE!" And I've officially gone bonkers…

Ratchet starts laughing. "Okay, calm down. Let's go!"

We run down the path, my excitement growing. It's not long before we encounter a pair minions. Zurkon charges to the nearest one and starts singing while shooting," One dead little choo-choo, two dead little choo-choos!" Maybe _he's_ the one who's gone mad.

I equip my Arc Lasher and lash another minion with it, freezing up his circuitry. Then I switch to my Razor Claws and tear said minion to shreds. Ratchet, Qwark, and Nefarious destroy the other with ease. And with Zurkon's help, who unfortunately is not here to see the fruits of his labor as he blew up a few minutes before. Rest in peace, Mr. Zurkon. Okay, that might've been kinda cruel… great, now I feel bad for a _Zurkon._

After heading further down the path, we encounter a large group of minions. I deploy another Zurkon, who is as eager to get into fighting as his predecessor.

"Mr. Zurkon is eager to get back to the killing!" Zurkon declares.

We all start blasting the minions. Hiding behind cover, I use my Combuster, while my friends use their Plasma Bomb Launchers. I miss so many times with my Combuster that it would leave both a War Grok and a Blargian Snagglebeast practically sobbing.

But soon the minions are thoroughly annihilated- I really need to stop saying that! We climb up some ridges, and then run down a path. Zurkon is already complaining of boredom.

"Mr. Zurkon is bored," Zurkon whines. "Mr. Zurkon wants to shoot something! Kill something!"

I roll my eyes, but ignore him. I look at Ratchet and ask, "So _why_ does Zurkon always refer to himself in the third person?"

"I dunno," Ratchet says, shrugging. "Maybe GrummelNet thought it would be funny or something."

Then we encounter more minions. Zurkon is briefly relieved of his boredom. He rushes up to a minion and shoots him, saying, "Yooohooo! Mr. Zurkon is looking to kill you!"

"Didn't he just- you know what, never mind!" Nefarious says as another minion starts shooting at us. I hide behind cover, equipping my Razor Claws. Time to get sneaky. My friends are busy blowing away the other minions.

I make my way to the minion, hiding behind rocks and pieces of debris now and then. When I'm close enough, I go to slash the minion from behind when he falls to the side, a panel ripped off and circuitry exposed and sparking.

I glare at the culprit. Nefarious, again! "Hey, that one was _mine!"_

"Not my problem if you didn't call dibs, _squishy,"_ Nefarious replies, glaring back at me. Then he smiles like it's some big joke. So he went from annoying to grumpy to silent to… happy?

"Er… right," I say.

Our friends run over to us, having decimated their share of bad guys.

"Something wrong?" Ratchet asks.

"No," I say. "Just Nef being Nef."

"Who's Nef?" Qwark asks blankly.

I give him a glare but say nothing. Zurkon has something to say, though. "Mr. Zurkon doesn't like green-moron! Can Mr. Zurkon shoot him?"

"Uh, no," Ratchet says. "C'mon, we've gotta keep moving!"

We run ahead, and encounter a pair of very happy Tharpods.

"Thanks!" one of them says. "You guys are heroes! To whom do we owe our lives to?"

"The Q-Force, my dear sir!" Qwark informs the Tharpod proudly.

Suddenly the Tharpod slaps him in the face. "I'm a _woman!"_

"Sorry," Qwark says, flushing. "It's hard to tell with Tharpods."

"What a jerk!" the other Tharpod declares. Can't say I blame him. Or her.

"Uh, Qwark, let's go," Ratchet says, dragging the green idiot away from the now seriously annoyed pair of Tharpods. As we run down another bridge, it starts collapsing behind us. We make it to the other side before it collapses entirely.

"The Tharpods really need to do something about those bridges," I say, panting.

"I would have to agree," Clank replies. Suddenly a group of minions teleport in front of us. They stare at us, surprised, then attack.

Another day, another battle.


	11. XI: NEST, Part Three

**Chapter 11! :) I ended up rewriting some of chapter seven, and while it's only a short part that's changed slightly, I would recommend rereading to prevent confusion in future chapters.**

 **Also, I'm sorry this is so short. Next one will definitely be longer.**

. . .

The minions are easily destroyed, and we circle around a metal barrier to the other side. Oh, yeah, Zurkon blew up again at some point in the battle too. Poor guy...

There are some more critters running around. I look at Ratchet, who's capturing one of them with his Vac-U, and ask, "So… why are we collecting these critters again?" Ratchet explained his reasoning to me last night, but I still don't get it.

"Uh…" Ratchet scratches his head. "Well, like I said before, the more creatures we have, the less that'll be available to Spog's minions."

"Right," I say. What would Spog's boss need with a few tiny creatures? I just let my friends take the remaining critters and we move on down the path.

 _"Huh,"_ Zephyr says. _"For a second, I thought that building to your left was the sorting facility, but… according to this geo-scan, that building appears to be a… crate factory?"_

"So _that's_ where all those crates come from?" I ask. "Huh. I was expecting something a little more… mysterious?"

 _"That makes two of us,"_ Zephyr replies.

Then I see we've got the longest chain of Hookshot targets I've personally encountered so far. "Sometimes I wish Insomniac wasn't so fond of anything even remotely related to Swingshots…"

My friends look at me strangely. Then Nefarious asks, "Say what? Who or _what_ is 'Insomniac?'"

Oh dear. I really don't want to explain _that_ right now. "Uh… can I get back to you guys on that?"

Ratchet raises an eyebrow, then shrugs. "Okay." Then he leaps to the nearest Hookshot and grapples onto it. He swings to the next one, then the next. We all follow him, copying his movements. Then we reach one of those spinning Hookshot targets. We latch on, and it slingshots us to a piece of land not far away. Then we use another set of Hookshot targets to launch ourselves to the top of a cliff ahead.

Then we hear Zephyr say, _"The satellite feed shows some kind of power conduit that stretches from your sector to the N.E.S.T. loading bay. That could be your ticket into the compound!"_

"Thanks, Zeph," Ratchet replies. Then we see a long metal pipe way down below the cliff ahead of us. That must be the power conduit. It's connected to a large platform.

I look down at the pipe, then at Ratchet. "We're gonna have to jump, aren't we?"

He nods. "Yep. And I'm pretty sure that our jetpacks are recharged by now." The Lombax then jumps off the cliff and falls in a skydiving position.

Then Qwark follows, equipping his jetpack. As he does this, I get an idea.

"I think I know a way I can get down there without you having to carry me," I say to Nefarious as our companions glide gently down to the platform. Without waiting for a reply, I equip my Hookshot and shoot the grapple towards the ground. It sticks. Then I turn and jump off the cliff. I'm hanging by the cable now. I can only hope the cable is long enough and strong enough for me to do this.

I look at Nefarious, who's watching me. His jaw is dropped with surprise. Guess he didn't expect a _squishy_ to think of that. He quickly regains himself and says, "Er, right. Better hope that cable holds, squishy. I'm not saving you if you fall."

I smile at the robot knowingly. "Aw… you do care."

"Shut up or I'll kill you myself."

I propel myself down a ways. I'm about two thirds of the way down when I run out of cable. So now I'm just hanging there. I look down at my friends. Of course Nefarious beat me and is now looking up at me with a smirk.

"Uh," I say. "I don't suppose one of you could equip a Vac-U and catch me before I end up a pancake down there?"

Qwark naturally steps up. "I can do it! I save damsels in distress all the time!"

"I'm NOT a 'damsel in distress,' you moron!" I say. "Ratchet, you've got good aim. You think you can do it? Because I really don't want _my_ butt in _Qwark's_ Vac-U. Who knows what he's sucked up with it…"

Ratchet nods, then equips his Vac-U. "Ready."

I disengage my Hookshot and Ratchet easily catches me with his Vac-U. Then, after shooting me out (without launching me off the platform, obviously) we equip our Grind Boots.

"These Grind Boots have magnetic bottoms similar to Magne-boots," Ratchet tells me. "But it only works on metal objects that are shaped like a very long cylinder, because of the way they're designed. You'd have to have Clank explain it to you, because I don't know all the technical details. Basically, don't worry about falling off."

I nod, and Ratchet hops on the pipe, sliding down it. The rest of us quickly follow. As we slide down the pipe, we hear Zephyr say, _"Stay sharp, rookies. We just got visual confirmation of Commander Spog."_ Then we see Spog flying above us. Oh sweet mother of Zoni… he's massive. We're lucky he hasn't seen us.

Then Cronk says, _"Strange… his design doesn't appear to be on file at the Hall of Knowledge. That's a violation of galactic statute thirty-nine delta!"_

"I wouldn't worry about that right now," I say. "Right now, we have more important things to worry about."

 _"She's right, Cronk,"_ Zephyr replies. _"We'll issue a citation when we find out who built him. For now, let's concentrate on taking him down so the Tharpods can return to their homes."_

"I would have to agree," Clank says.

Then we reach the end of the power conduit, landing on a platform. Then Cronk says, _"The sorting facility entrance is just around the bend! You should be able to infiltrate through the main loading bay."_

"Alright," Ratchet replies. Then he looks at us. "Ready to blow up some stuff?"

I nod, grinning. "Heck yeah!"

Qwark is picking his nose. He quickly stops and looks at Ratchet blankly. "Uh, yes! Always ready!"

"Yeah, sure, why not?" Nefarious says unenthusiastically, shrugging.

We head down the platform, across a bridge, and smash and slash a few minions when Zephyr says, _"Ah, kid, I tell ya- I wish we were with you right now. Exploring a strange new world, off on a new adventure. Cronk and I don't get out much these days."_

The "exploring a strange new world" part makes me think of _Star Trek,_ and I let out a chuckle. I wonder what my new friends would think of that show. Qwark would probably hate it, while-

Cronk interrupts my thoughts by saying, _"Speak for yourself! Just yesterday I infiltrated the lair of the evil Count Microbolt! He had amassed an army of penguin cyborgs, and was planning an attack on the city of Meregon Nine!"_

"Uh, correct me if I'm wrong," I say, "but yesterday you both were stuck in an asteroid belt above Magnus- same as you are today. Cronk, did you fall asleep watching a cartoon or something? Penguin cyborgs… then again, I'm not one to talk, because I'm nineteen and I still watch reruns of SpongeBob…"

 _"It was a rerun of Unicop, ya darn fool!"_ Zephyr shouts. _"You fell asleep while it was on last night! Now stay focused! Commander Spog could be anywhere!"_

"Unicop?" I ask blankly. Then I shake my head. "Never mind."

We cross a bridge onto an elevator, which takes us up to a set of spinning Hookshot targets. We use them to slingshot to a platform some ways away. We encounter another set of Hookshots, which fling us to an elevator, which takes us up to another platform. Not much blowing up of stuff so far.

Up ahead is a large metal building with a door in the middle. Next to said door is a pad with strange symbols on the buttons. Nefarious immediately runs up to the pad and starts tapping away at the keys.

"Ha!" he says. "A three-pass delta key encryption device? Amateurs…"

"You sound like Big Al when you say that," Ratchet tells him.

"Who?" Nefarious asks. Before Ratchet can reply, the door slides open. The robotic doctor strikes a goofy victory pose. "I win! Victory!"

"Maybe dial it down a bit, Nef?" I say. "We don't want to announce our presence to Spog yet."

 _"You mean you're in?"_ Cronk asks. _"Good going! Commander Spog is in charge of this entire facility, so keep an eye out! He's bound to be around here somewhere."_

"Will do," Ratchet replies. "Keep us posted." Then he looks at us. "Okay, _now_ are you all ready to blow stuff up?"

"I'm ready," I say. I look at Qwark and Nefarious. "What about you guys?"

Nefarious crosses his arms and says, "Yeah, whatever. Only because I want to see the green idiot standing next to me get shot."

"Hey!" Qwark says indignantly. "I'll have you know I won last year's Galactic Idol competition!"

Nefarious glares at him. "You WHAT?!"

"Hey!" Ratchet and I say at the same time. We look at each other, then back at Qwark and Nefarious. Ratchet continues, "Let's focus on Spog for now, and we'll worry about your silly singing competitions later."

"I second that," Clank says.

"Me too," I say.

Nefarious growls. "Fine. But how could someone so stupid win one of the most difficult competitions in the known universe…?"

. . .

 **As you've probably noticed, I skipped a good portion of the level, as I felt it unnecessary to the plot. Plus, aside from the hilarious Unicop thing, that segment is pretty boring to say the least. Anyway, see ya all next time! :)**


	12. XII: The Chase, Part One

**Chapter 12 is up! :) Constructive criticism appreciated.**

. . .

As we head inside, we see what looks like a sentry bot up ahead. Luckily his back is toward us, so we are able to take him out easily. We head down a holographic bridge, where we find another sentry. This one quickly spots us and shoots a laser.

"Look out!" Ratchet shouts. We quickly dodge to the side. Qwark hides behind a stack of crates, which are quickly vaporised by a laser beam. Qwark screams like a little girl and runs to where we are.

Ratchet aims his Combuster at the sentry bot and blows it up before it can shoot again. Then he looks at Qwark, who's trembling in fear with his eyes closed. "Qwark, you can stop being a baby now."

"Ratchet!" Clank says in a reprimanding tone.

"What? Adara's always calling him an idiot, and you don't reprimand her," Ratchet replies.

I flush slightly with annoyance. "Let's just get moving. We have to find Spog." We cross another bridge, take out two more sentries, and enter another room.

A massive minion detaches itself from the wall ahead of us and lands on the platform we're standing on. I stare, wide-eyed. "Oh… dear… lasagna…"

The minion points its arm at us and shoots a laser at us. We quickly avoid the beam, but I can only wonder what it is with these minions and their lasers. I just deploy a Zurkon and hope that he'll make himself useful and be less whiny.

Zurkon hovers in the air, wobbling as though he's drunk. "Mr. Zurkon is very sleepy… but is ready for killing!" He turns to the minion and starts shooting it. The minion seems startled by this, and starts trying to shoot Zurkon.

While the minion is distracted, we all start blasting said minion with our weapons. Despite the fact that I'm not very good with my Combuster, I aim it at the minion and start shooting. My friends equip their Plasma Bomb Launchers and do the same. Within moments, the minion is down and out for the count.

Zurkon seems disappointed that the battle was over so quickly. "Are we done with the killing?"

"For now," I say. We then step onto a platform, which starts moving across a rail. I frown, and say, "Hopefully this'll take us to Spog."

As the platform moves along at a steady pace, we hear a certain computerised voice say, _"Warning. Unauthorised life forms detected in Sector Three."_

"Hey, computer lady!" I shout. Yep, I'm crazy. "Remember _us?!_ The five _interlopers_ who _disgraced_ your Vac-U training program by trying _not_ to die?"

 _"Why… you little… If you've come back for your gold stars, I'm afraid they were flushed down a toilet after the five of you disgraced your Vac-U diplomas."_ Ah yes, she's as chipper as ever.

Then Spog comes flying by and peeks through the opening where the platform would have gone through if it hadn't stopped moving.

"Ahh, interlopers! You weren't on the master's list! Small and weak and fragile- hm, what do we have here?" Spog is staring at me now, for some reason. "What a shame. The master will be distraught in learning of your fate, but alas, you are with the interlopers. And we have no room for traitors."

"What are you talking about?" I ask blankly. "Are you Commander Spog?"

"Mr. Zurkon is very confused," Zurkon declares.

Spog says with a note of surprise in his voice, "You mean you don't remember… hm… well… yes, I am Commander Spog. But that information won't do you any good where you're going."

I open my mouth to reply when Spog says, "Steward, divert platform delta through the steam channel." The platform suddenly floats upward off the panel. I look at my friends, who are looking right back at me with confused expressions. What the heck just happened?

Then Cronk says, _"Oh boy! Um… that's-that's not good. You're being diverted to the N.E.S.T. Rehabitation Center!"_

"Uh… more like the _execution_ center!" Ratchet comments. The platform slowly moves toward a pair of tubes that spray some kind of green gas that I'm sure is deadly. I look and see that there are other moving platforms to our right. Hm…

I turn to Ratchet. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"I think so," Ratchet says. "We might be able to get across those platforms to the other side. Follow me." The Lombax leaps to one platform to another, and we all copy his movements exactly. Soon we're safe and sound on the other side.

"Now… do you think you can explain a few things to us?" Ratchet asks, looking at me. Of course he's wondering the same thing I am. Why Spog acted like he knew me.

"I'm wondering the same thing," I say. "Because I've never met Spog before today, or that 'master' he mentioned earlier. I say we go find Spog and get us both some answers." Ratchet raises an eyebrow at me. I look at each of my friends, who are looking at me as if I were a stranger. "Look, we can either stand here all day, or we can find Spog before he kills us or something."

Clank says, "I would have to agree with Adara. We must find Spog quickly."

"And then can Mr. Zurkon kill him?" Zurkon says, a note of hope in his voice.

"Fine," Ratchet says, ignoring Zurkon. "But I'm keeping an eye on you, 'Adara.'"

Well, that hurt. We all step onto a platform, which takes us up to another level. Then we hear Spog say over the speakers in the building, _"Steward, the interlopers and the traitor are still alive. Send in reinforcements!"_

 _"Right away, Commander,"_ the Steward replies.

"As if we don't have enough to deal with!" Nefarious growls.

A group of minions teleport into the room and we quickly destroy them.

Zurkon then starts singing, "Killing all day, la dee dah, la dee dah! Mr. Zurkon is killing all day, la dee dah!"

 _"For what purpose are you helping these interlopers?"_ Spog asks. I know he's talking to me. _"Is it to destroy my factory? To gain vengeance on your father? Or are you trying to be 'noble' and 'save' this planet? There is no 'saving this planet!' Magnus belongs to the master!"_

"I never knew my father! He left before I was even born!" I snap as we run across a bridge. "And I don't care who you are or who you claim to be- you're going to help us stop Ephemeris, whether you do it willingly or if we _force_ you!"

 _"I warned the master that this could happen, but he didn't listen!"_ Spog sounds like he's talking more to himself than us. Then he says, _"But you soon will no longer be a problem when you're all dead."_

I let out a growl, pretty annoyed myself. We make it to an elevator platform, which starts taking us downward. It moves smoothly a ways, then jerks to a halt.

 _"I grow tired of this,"_ Spog says. _"Farewell, interlopers and to you as well, traitor."_

The elevator collapses beneath us, and we start plummeting. Way down below, the floor opens up, revealing giant, spinning blades. The blades start moving upwards slowly. Interesting security mechanism. Clank activates his Heli-Pack, catching him and Ratchet. Qwark and Nefarious equip their jetpacks. But I have nothing to save me. For a moment, I think I'm going to die. I close my eyes as I fall, waiting for my last moments, but then I feel something grab my arm, halting my plunge.

I open my eyes and look up. "You saved me. Again. Why?"

Nefarious smiles. "Can't have our allies up my butt about letting you die, now can I?" We're all moving upwards now, since down isn't an option at the moment for obvious reasons.

"Mr. Zurkon is bored. Can Mr. Zurkon shoot the green-man?" We all just ignore him as we fly up the elevator tube. We shoot up through an opening at the top, just before it can close. We then land on the platform, under the cover of the open sky.

"Well, that sure was insane," I say. My friends say nothing as we run down the platform to a door leading back into the facility.

 _"I am too old for this foolishness,"_ Spog declares. _"Steward, alert all forces. I will not allow these interlopers and their ally to disrupt the Rehabitation process!"_

After hacking the door and getting back inside the facility, a group of minions teleport in front of us. We easily destroy them. Then Ratchet uses his Vac-U on a plunger, which raises a platform through a hole in the floor. It has some kind of switch with multiple handles on it. We all step onto the platform and push the switch. The platform starts lowering itself. Apparently it's an elevator.

 _"Commander,"_ the Steward says, _"the interlopers have accessed the Sector Four elevator."_

 _"Three weeks until retirement,"_ Spog says, _"and now this? I will not accept a blemish on my record on account of your incompetence!"_

"At this rate," I say, knowing Spog can hear me, "maybe you should just give up now and tell us where Ephemeris is so we can _annihilate_ it!"

 _"You are very much like your father,"_ Spog says after a moment. _"Stubborn, prone to making threats…"_

He knows my father personally? I can't think of a reply right now, so I shake my head of these thoughts for now, and follow my friends off the elevator. We have to destroy another group of minions that were waiting for us below. It was fairly easy.

Then we run up to another plunger, and Spog says, _"Do not access that elevator. Don't do it!"_

"Sorry, Spog, but we don't take orders from bad guys," Ratchet says as I activate the plunger with my Vac-U.

"Mr. Zurkon is bored again," Zurkon declares.

"How do you like that?" I ask as another elevator rises through a hole in the floor.

"In your face, evil-doer!" Qwark declares, now rather enthusiastic. We all push the switch and the elevator starts moving downward.

Needless to say, Commander Spog is not happy in the slightest. _"You did it! I told you not to do it and you completely disregarded me! You're pushing your luck, you are!"_

After the elevator is completely lowered, we walk off onto the platform as I say, "I don't even believe in luck!"

More minions teleport into the room, and Zurkon manages to shoot down a few before exploding. We slash, blast, and rip apart the remaining minions.

"Ah, it feels good to annihilate things," Nefarious declares as he slashes the last minion.

 _"Our forces have been defeated, Commander,"_ the Steward announces.

 _"Not all of them, Steward,"_ Spog replies. _"Send in Mr. Perkins."_

Mr. ' _Perkins?'"_ Qwark repeats. "What kind of a name is that? It sounds like something you'd name a doughnut sales-guy… and now I want doughnuts!"

 _"Mr. Perkins is someone you wouldn't have had to deal with if you had not disregarded me!"_ Spog replies. Then the colossal metal door in front of us slides open, revealing a large robot behind it.

"Hey," I say, pointing at the minion, "that guy looks a lot like the other bot whose butt we kicked before that Steward announced our presence."

Mr. Perkins stares at us, and then flies away. Guess he got terrified after hearing what happened to his buddy. Sure enough, we hear Spog say, _"Mr. Perkins! I order you to kill those interlopers at once! Rrrg… now look what you've done!"_

 _"Excelsior!"_ Cronk says. _"You five actually make a darn good team!"_

Hearing those words makes me feel strange. Cronk and Zephyr think we're a good team? I look at my friends, who look back at me. "Yeah. I guess we do make a decent team."

We step on another platform, which moves down a rail. Then we hear Spog ask, _"Who sent you? Was it that meddling little Tharpod girl? The one who's been sticking chewing gum in all my machines?!"_

"If you tell us where Ephemeris is," I snark, "then maybe we'll tell you. Psyche! This is nonnegotiable. Tell us where Ephemeris is, or we'll be forced to use lethal… uh, force!"

 _"I've detected a spike in your neural processing core, Commander,"_ the Steward says. _Recommend you count down from five to enhance your sense of calm."_

Spog sounds annoyed as he counts down, _"Five… four… three… you know what, I don't have time for this! I'm in the middle of combat here!"_

"What combat?" I ask. "Sending all your minions to their deaths by our hands? And guns?"

 _"Steward?!"_ Spog shouts, ignoring me. _"Where are my minions?!"_

 _"Most of them are afraid to fight, Commander,"_ the Steward replies. _"They are hiding in storage until the interlopers evacuate."_

"Well," Clank says. "Perhaps there will be less destruction from here on out."

Um, yeah, I think Clank just jinxed it. And then Spog says, _"Well, then, lie! Tell them there's a party in Sector Twelve, with cake, and presents, and- I don't know, just use your imagination!"_

"Um," I say, "if we can hear this, then can't your minions hear it, too? Besides, how would those minions eat cake anyway? They're robots!"

There's a long silence. As we finally step onto another platform, Spog says, _"Do something, Steward!"_

 _"Attention minions,"_ the Steward says, sounding a bit unsure of herself. _"If you kill the interlopers in Sector Twelve, there will be a week-long party held in your honour- with cake and presents. When the party is held, BYOB."_

"So these robots can eat cake and drink booze?" I ask as we smash a few minions that teleport in front of us. Evidently they're willing to risk their lives for a party. "What else can they do? Pee their diapers instead of going to the whiz palace? Not that they have diapers…"

"I'm sorry… did I just hear you say 'whiz palace?'" Ratchet asks as he blows up the last minion.

"Okay, so I watched a little too much Parks and Recreation!" I say as we run down the platform into the next room. "I think it's funny!"

Ratchet just shakes his head and we all start shooting more minions. After destroying all of them, we head own a hall into another room where we take down a few more minions. Then we step onto an elevator, which takes us up a tube to another platform.

We run around, killing more minions, and then run up to a spinning Hookshot target, and then we hear Cronk say, _"Hey rookies! I got the thermal scan up and running again- after_ someone _went ahead and spilled oil all over it- and it looks like you're right on top of Spog! Or he's on top of you. Someone has the drop on someone else! So you know, plan accordingly."_

"Uh… right," I say. We grapple onto the Hookshot target, only for a minion to teleport into the room and shoot it. The Hookshot target tips, sending us flying through a window. Thankfully we land on a platform, or things may have gone worse.

Attached to the platform is one of those power conduit things. Ratchet looks at us as we all stand up and dust ourselves off. He says, "You guys ready for a little improvising?"

I nod. Qwark asks stupidly, "What's improvalsizing?"

"It's 'improvising,' you nitwit!" Nefarious corrects. "And yes, if it means I get to annihilate something!"

"I am ready as well," Clank replies.

"Alright then," Ratchet says. He leaps onto the pipe- I mean conduit- and we all follow. Time to get some answers.


	13. XIII: The Chase, Part Two

**Chapter 13 is up! Two chapters in one day! :) I had to fix a minor loophole in the first chapter, but it's fine now. Sorry this chapter is short. Next one will be longer.**

. . .

As we slide down the pipe- erm, I mean conduit- Spog declares as he flies past us, "There you are! I'll show you how we deal with interlopers around here! Let's see how you handle this!"

He launches mines onto the conduit in front of us, which we manage to jump over quickly.

"I'd say we handled _that_ pretty well!" Ratchet shouts at Spog.

After dodging some more mines, Spog says, "You have wasted enough of my time!" Now he starts shooting spinning blades at us. They're harder to dodge, but we manage to avoid them.

"That the best you have, evil-doer?" Qwark asks.

"Perhaps it would be best if we did not provoke him anymore than we already have," Clank tells him.

"Nonsense!" Qwark says. "The best way to defeat a villain is to… is… I don't know, actually."

"If you don't even know the best way to fight a villain," I say, "then how did you defeat Nefarious so many times? Did he just _let_ you win, or what?"

"Hey!" Nefarious snaps. "I'll have you know that I-!"

 _"Commander,"_ the Steward interrupts by speaking over the speakers placed throughout the area (they sure are thorough with those things). _"The interlopers are still alive."_

"I _know_ they're still alive!" Spog retorts. "I'm rectifying the situation right now!"

Is he now? Because right now, we're pretty much kicking his butt.

 _"Are you sure?"_ the Steward asks, as amused by this as I am. _"Because you said that a few minutes ago. Were you being humourous?"_

"Yeah!" I shout at Spog, laughing. "Were you being humourous?!"

"Can we talk about this later?!" Spog asks. I'm assuming he's talking to the Steward. We reach the end of the power conduit and land on a platform.

We start blasting minions, and Spog shouts, "Meddlesome interlopers! And you… traitor… I have no words to describe my anger towards you." I roll my eyes as we continue blowing up minions. Spog continues his rant. "You cannot prevent the master's escape! His great crusade will recommence! The Cragmites couldn't destroy him, and neither can you!"

"The Cragmites?!" I exclaim. My friends and I quickly destroy the last minion. "The Cragmites were banished to another dimension eons ago! What could _they_ possibly have to do with Magnus?!"

"It doesn't matter," Spog replies. "You cannot stop what is to come!"

We step onto a large elevator platform, which starts moving upwards.

"You were saying?" Ratchet asks, raising an eyebrow.

Spog flies up to us and slams his fists on the platform. "Special delivery! Let me introduce you to a few of Magnus' newest residents!" A minion drops a trio of weevoids in front of us and I frown. Weevoids? That's the best he's got? Spog then says, "I'm late for filing my complaints about the Steward to the master. Have fun, _interlopers!"_

We quickly blow the weevoids to smithereens, and the elevator rises up through a hole in a platform. We then step off onto said platform as the Steward says, _"Commander, you will have to save filing your complaints for later. The interlopers are still alive."_

After a moment, Spog flies up to where we are, very angry. "I will not allow a bunch of meddlesome interlopers to wreak any more havoc on _my_ factory! As the highest-ranking warbot on site, I hereby declare you enemies of the master! Prepare to do battle!"

"Isn't that what we've been doing ever since we were brought to this planet?!" Nefarious shrieks at him.

Spog rises his hands, which transform into what look like giant clothing irons. Then he moves closer to us and we jump to the side as he brings the iron-like things down with a smack. A second too late, and we would have been pancakes.

I equip my Combuster and start shooting at Spog. My friends get out their Plasma Bomb Launchers and blast Spog. The giant robot only becomes more frustrated. "I've yet to lose a battle!"

"There's no day like today, then!" Ratchet declares.

Spog then decides to shoot a laser at us. "I cannot allow you to leave this place! Prepare for the end!"

We dodge the laser and continue attacking. I'm definitely getting better with my Combuster, since I'm hitting Spog quite a bit. Or maybe it's because he's a bigger target.

Then he launches some mines at us. Zephyr says over the comm, _"Those explosives look powerful enough to breach his armour! Blast 'em back using your Vac-U's!"_

"Thanks, Zeph!" Ratchet says. He looks at me and says, "We'll keep him distracted. You see if you can give him a piece of his own medicine!" An overused quote, but it does fit the situation.

I nod, switching to my Vac-U and sucking up an explosive. I aim and fire at Spog. And I miss. I've got his attention though.

"Pathetic," Spog says, shooting a laser at me. "You and your interloper allies will fail!"

I narrowly avoid the laser, then try launching another bomb at him. This time it hits, and his armour gives way. Spog is stunned for a moment and the Steward says, _"I am detecting failure in three out of ten primary systems. Recommend retreat immediately."_

"Retreat?!" Spog shouts. "Never! I have them right where I want them!"

"Do you now?" Ratchet asks as I continue to bombard Spog with his own explosives. "Because I just saw her blow multiple holes in your side."

"You aren't warriors!" Spog snarls. "How are you doing this?"

"Because you continue to launch explosives at us," Clank says logically, "and it is obvious that tactic is backfiring on you."

"How dare you insult me in such a manner?!" Spog tries blasting us with more lasers in his rage. We dodge them easily.

Then after a few more Plasma Bombs land no the exposed areas, the Steward says, _"Commander, you do not look well."_

"Don't worry about me, Steward!" Spog replies, trying to flatten us with his iron fists again. "There's plenty of fight left in this old warbot!"

A few more bombs and he crashes onto the platform in front of us, defeated. I unequip my Vac-U and say, "You were saying?"

My friends also unequip their weapons. Spog tries to speak, but his voice sounds distorted. Clank hops off Ratchet's back for the moment and walks up to the giant robot. "Your voice modulator is damaged, Commander. But if you tell us how to defeat Ephemeris, I believe I know someone who can fix you."

Qwark is about to step up when I say, "Qwark, I'm pretty sure he's _not_ talking about _you_."

Clank looks at me and nods. Then he points at Nefarious. "You are correct, Adara. I was referring to him."

"Me?!" Nefarious looks surprised. "Are you insane?!"

I walk up to Nefarious and say, "Well, you are a scientist. Last I checked, no one else here exactly has a degree in robotics. Come on. You've saved my butt several times already. And I'm a _squishy._ Surely you're willing to help one of your own, a robot."

"No." Nefarious crosses his arms and turns his back on me.

I cross my arms too and sigh. "Look, I know that people don't see it, but you have the potential for great things. You've proved that on more than one occasion. But you've been using your abilities for evil. That hasn't exactly worked out for you, has it?"

"It's none of your business, squishy!" Nefarious snarls. He shoves me aside and walks up to Spog. "Fine, I'll fix him. But only to get you to shut up! And all of you- speak of this to no one!"

I should've kept my stupid mouth shut and let Clank handle it. He has more experience with bad guys. Same for Ratchet. As for Qwark… I wouldn't let him even handle a toaster oven.

I watch Nefarious rather overdramatically repair Spog's voice modulator. Within a few moments, Spog is able to speak again. The giant robot rises up from the platform and looks down at us.

"Alright, Spog. We did our part," Ratchet says. "Now how do we defeat Ephemeris?"

"Only the architect knows," Spog replies. "He lives beyond the lighthouse, in the forest of the blue rocks."

Ratchet nods. Before Spog can leave, I say, "One more thing. You implied that you know my father. Who… is he? What's he doing here on _Magnus_ , of all places? Did what happened to me happen to him?"

"Your father is dangerous," Spog replies after a moment. "I'm afraid, considering your… condition, that it would be best if you did not know. Farewell to you five."

Before I can say anything, he flies away. I look at Ratchet. "I guess we just head to the 'forest of the blue rocks' then."


	14. XIV: The Fishing Village, Part One

**Chapter 14! :) Constructive criticism appreciated! I hope this chapter is decent enough (after all, I was a bit late in updating) and I still think it's a little slow in places. Also, I think I've figured out what to do for the next chapter of _The Expanse_ FINALLY! So stay tuned with that as well.**

 **Now, onto the story!**

. . .

 _"I agree with her on that. That elevator to your right should take you down to one of the facility's exits,"_ Zephyr says. _"Cronk was right. You five do make a good team."_

"Heh, thanks, Zeph!" Ratchet says. He then says to me, frowning, "As for you… you should go back to Susie's village."

"What?!" I shout.

"Whatever connection you may have to Ephemeris can't be good," Ratchet tells me. "Spog said himself that your father is dangerous. If your father is involved with Ephemeris, then we can't take any chances."

"So," I snarl, "you think I'm going to turn evil just because there's a possibility that my father may be a bad guy and that I have some weird purpose in all this and blah, blah, blah?! I see how it is!" I turn my back towards them and start walking away in rage. "Fine! Go save Magnus without me! I'll just wander around, trying to make my way back to the village, through the _Deadgrove!_ Let's see how you like it when I end up in a giant worm's _digestive tract!"_

I hear Clank say, "Adara, do not be silly. Ratchet, stop being so distrustful. I know that what happened is troubling, but I doubt that Adara will betray us. We cannot abandon her simply because Spog seems to know her father. For all we know, he could have been lying."

I halt and look back at them. Maybe I should just keep walking, find my own way back. But what if they get hurt or killed? They're my friends. I won't leave them.

I walk back up to them. "Let's get moving then."

We board the elevator and it moves down to a hall where I immediately spot something interesting. I walk up to a desk to inspect the object. "Hey, guys, check this out. It looks a lot like that holo-diary we found earlier, but this one looks older." I pick up the object and as I'm about to show it to them when it levitates out of my hand. A screen pops out.

 _"Holo-diary 0-0-1. Creatures! For years, they've been something of a rite of passage on Magnus. Their very presence seems to enrich, inspire, and motivate us all. It is a bond that no one has sought to understand… until now. Take my own companion, Mr. Dinkles. His mere presence seems to amplify my talents as a paradoxologist._

 _"But observe him through the lens of a vectomorphic tricilloscope! What strange manifestation is this? Have we discovered some new form of cosmic radiation? We must learn more about this energy. Nevo believes he can modify the protomorphic energy extractors in order to separate the energy from its host._

 _"Tomorrow will be a great day for science!"_

The holo-diary ended there with static. I look from the screen to my friends. "That sounded like the guy from the previous holo-diary!"

Ratchet nods in agreement. "Dr… uh, what was his name again?"

"I believe it was 'Dr. Croid,'" Clank tells him. "Though, I find it odd that this holo-diary was here rather than in the Deadgrove like the previous."

"That first holo-diary we found was more recent," I say. "And the fact that this recording we found was about Dr. Croid's experiments means that this place may have been his facility once."

"But if that's the case," Nefarious says, "then why isn't he here now?"

"Probably for the same reason that the previous recording we found was about Ephemeris," Ratchet says. "Croid called it his 'creation.' Maybe whoever took control of Ephemeris drove him out of the facility or something."

"What are we all talking about now?" Qwark asks blankly. Evidently his mind had been somewhere else. "Oh, right, the… uh… actually, I don't remember."

"Look, the more time we spend theorising, the less time we have in finding Ephemeris," I tell them, ignoring Qwark. "I say we have Cronk and Zephyr see if they can find anything about Croid and Ephemeris while we go look for this architect guy. Same thing goes for whoever this 'Nevo' guy is."

"I would agree," Clank says. "Perhaps any information they can find regarding this matter will help us find Ephemeris."

"Then what are we waiting for?" Ratchet asks. Then he lowers his ears slightly. "Wait. We don't even know what Spog meant by 'the forest of the blue rocks.'" He then says into his comm, "Cronk, Zephyr, is there anything in the database about a 'forest of blue rocks?'"

 _"Hold on a minute,"_ Zephyr says. _"Checking the database now. No… not blue mushrooms… no… not blue cheese… not green hoola-hoops… no… no, NO! Just stay where you are, rookies. I'll let you know when I find it. Blasted search tab is messing up…"_

 _"I told you that thing likes to mess with me!"_ Cronk tells him. _"One time, last year, I tried to look for a recipe for Drophyd stew- it's Miss Talwyn's favourite- and instead it took me to a website that talked about something called 'The Thieveous Raccoonus!' Since when did raccoons stealing things have anything to do with_ Drophyd stew?! _Technology these days…"_

"I'm sorry… did I hear you say 'Drophyd _stew?'"_ I ask. People seriously eat Drophyds here…? Ew.

 _"Yes. It's a delicacy throughout Polaris! You've never heard of it?"_ Cronk asks. _"Why, I-"_

 _"Cronk, quit wasting time with your horror stories about disgusting stews!"_ Zephyr says. _"Okay, I finally found a result that actually had to do with all three criteria- forests, blue rocks, and Magnus. No thanks to_ someone _over here."_

 _"Hey! I'll have you know that I fixed the motor oil dispenser this morning!"_

 _"After_ you _broke it while sleepwalking! I_ told _you that you shouldn't have watched Unicop last night, but you didn't-!"_

"Guys!" Ratchet interrupts. "The _location?"_

 _"Oh, right!"_ Zephyr turns his attention back to Ratchet. _"It's apparently a place called 'Terawatt Forest!' The railway station in the room ahead should take you to- augh, Cronk! Don't press_ that _button! You're going to activate the_ self-destruct!"

 _"Oh. I thought it was the radio button. What whippersnapper decided to paint_ all _the buttons_ red _, anywho?!"_

 _"It was that stupid mechanic who fixed the radiator last month! You need to get your memory core inspected again!"_ Zephyr lets out a sigh of aggravation. " _Just take the railway station, rookies. It'll take you to a small fishing village, where you should find another railway station that will take you to the forest. Now to explain to Cronk the difference between the self-destruct and the radio buttons…"_

"Copy that," Ratchet says. Then he looks at us. "Well, here we go."

. . .

I open my eyes drowsily, seeing the first rays of morning light. My friends are still asleep, so I just lay there lazily. We arrived in the fishing village late last night, and took Cronk's advice to make camp, eat something , buy new weapons from an Apogee pod (we all got something called the Warmonger, and I got something that Ratchet said was a Darkstar Fission something-or-other), and rest.

Using our Vac-U's, we managed to capture some fish. And although Ratchet burnt them (he claimed that they were simply overcooked), we ate them. Well, he, Qwark, and I ate the fish. Clank and Nefarious just sat there watching.

While I ate, I wondered why the fishing village was deserted. Something very bad must've happened to make the inhabitants leave…

And then went to bed. Well, Ratchet, Clank, and Qwark went to sleep right away. I spent part of the night thinking about my father and how he was on Magnus and how crazy this whole situation was.

As I sat staring at the fire, Nefarious interrupted my reverie by asking, "So, what's the deal with your father? You said he left before you were born. Why is that?"

"Mum never said," I replied, still looking at the fire. "And I didn't ask, because I didn't want to know. I didn't want to know anything about him."

"So what's changed?" Nefarious pressed. "Why do you want to know about your real father now?"

"If he didn't leave my mum on purpose," I told him, "and if he was abducted, same I was, then I have to know. To get closure, y'know? Maybe even get to know him and make up for lost time…"

Nefarious raised an eyebrow. "Uh, right… got any more of those songs by what's-her-name?"

"Avril Lavigne," I told him. "And yes. I've got lots of songs by lots of musicians and bands on my iPod."

So we spent the next half hour listening to music. Finally, as I shut off my iPod and stuffed it back in my pocket, I asked, "Why do you hate organics?"

Nefarious didn't reply. I looked at him. Still silent, looking away. "Never mind," I said, about to get up to go back to my spot, when he grabbed my arm.

"Because…" Nefarious trailed off. I waited for him to continue, but he shoved me away. "No. I won't talk about my problems with a stupid squishy!"

"I… okay. Good night, then," I replied, trying not to show my disappointment. I went back to my spot and curled up in the cold, grainy sand. After a long time of thinking and feeling sorry for myself and wishing that this whole thing never happened, yet at the same time happy that it did, I fell asleep.

My dreams weren't exactly welcoming either. Nightmares of being torn apart by creatures I didn't recognise, didn't know. Dreams of hope being crushed by death and destruction. With all that I've been through recently, you'd think my brain would've at least given me _one_ stupid, itty-bitty happy dream. But no. All my fears were materialised in nature's virtual reality simulation. Yay me…

My thoughts of last night are now interrupted by Zephyr greeting over the comm, _"Rise and shine, rookies! Well, it's not really shining, because of the all cloudiness, but…"_

 _"My arm is squeaking from rust again,"_ Cronk complains as I watch Ratchet sit up and rub his eyes drowsily. I sit up as well, waiting for the rest of our group to wake up.

The Lombax says to Cronk and Zephyr, "Good morning to you, too." He then stands up and looks at me. "And you too, 'Adara.'"

Will he stop acting like I'm a bad guy? Probably not!

"Right… _space-rat!"_ I snap viciously. Yeah, I'm pretty crabby this morning. I stand up and shout, "Hey, _slackers!_ Wake up!" Now I'm thinking of _Back to the Future._ In a good way, I mean!

Clank, Qwark, and Nefarious are all startled awake.

"Is there something wrong?" Clank asks.

"Ack!" Qwark screams. "They were only memos! Memos, I tell you! Not… oh… it's morning!" What about memos could possibly freak him out like that? I'm sure I _don't_ want to know.

"Hey, where's my beef jerky pizza?" Nefarious asks. "I could have sworn I…"

"Uh, you're a robot," I point out. "Last I checked, robots don't eat things. Then again, if those minions can eat cake and drink booze, I guess anything is possible…"

Soon we were on our way to Terawatt Forest. We run down a dock a short ways before encountering a tiny purple alien that is squirming in the sandy beach in front of us. It looks sort of like a seahorse with huge eyes and weird tentacles on their bottoms.

It looks up at Qwark and snarls. The green-clad moron squeals in fear and hides behind me. "Augh! Nature… is… EVERYWHERE!"

The creature looks at me, tilting its head in curiosity. I pick it up and see a gash in its side. I set it back down and suck it in my Vac-U. Maybe my Vac-U's nanotech reserves will help the poor creature.

"Let's keep moving," I say, and we head down the small beach to another dock. Then Ratchet spots something interesting. "Huh. Looks like an old sonic py-something or other… Clank, what are they called again?"

Clank is hanging out on Ratchet's back, as usual. "I believe they are called 'sonic pylons.'"

 _"Oh, yeah, Zeph and I used to go fishin' with those things darn things,"_ Cronk says. _"Miss Talwyn always made us take one with us, because she loves tortemoth in spaghetti. The thing was so danged heavy that the motorboat could barely-"_

 _"Cronk, not_ now!" Zephyr snaps. _"Just try giving that pylon a good whack. That should attract a tortemoth. If there are any there… those creature are as trained as dogs. Usually. They're big enough to ride on their shells. We'll direct you on how to steer them."_

"Thanks, guys," Ratchet says as we walk up to the pylon. He equips his Omniwrench and throws it at the pylon. The pylon rings loudly, and the wrench bounces off back into Ratchet's hand.

Within moments, a tortemoth (I think it's a tortemoth) floats up to the surface of the water in front of the dock. The creature looks at us with lazily. We all hop on its giant shelled back, and Ratchet says, "Okay, we're on its back. Now what?"

After much direction (and many reprimands) from Cronk and Zephyr , we manage to get to another dock. Apparently the tortemoth's shell has several pressure points throughout its shell. These pressure points can be pressed to "steer" the tortemoth. If you want to go left, you have to press on a pressure point on the left side of the shell. If you want to go right, you have to press on the right side. But here's the catch. You can't put too much pressure, otherwise it will hurt the tortemoth. They will be less responsive if you hurt them.

Cronk even told us at one point that he saw a news article in the paper about one guy who put too much pressure on a point, and the tortemoth sank below the water, and the guy drowned. How many horror stories does he have?

Anyway, here on the dock, more of those purple aliens flock. Except unlike the injured one we found earlier, these ones were bigger and pretty aggressive. The one we found must've been a baby. I wonder what happened to its parents…?

Anyway, we easily take out the creatures, despite Qwark's utter uselessness in the face of only a little danger. He kept running around screaming.

"Qwark, you really need to stop getting so freaked out by nature," Ratchet tells him.

"I can't help it if nature is _scary!"_ Qwark replies, trembling as he comes out from hiding behind a rock.

"Nobody cares, Qwark!" I snap, not holding back my temper. "Nobody wants a _coward_ for a leader, you know! And that's _exactly_ what you're being! The _king_ of utter, _downright_ cowardice!"

"Okay, that's enough!" Ratchet intervenes. "Qwark, she's right about the fact that people don't like cowards for leaders, so pull yourself together! Adara, I don't know what's going on with you right now, but it has to stop!"

"Like I can stop my stupid brain," I snarl, "from giving me nightmares of being torn apart _limb_ from _limb,_ and being eaten _alive!_ " Then I point at Nefarious and continue, "And then there's the fact that 'Mister I-Don't-Like-Talking-My-Problems' over there fits his stupid title and won't answer one stupid little question!"

Then I point at Ratchet. "And you! You… argh! I'm a big fan, but there are times when I don't like you! And right now is one of them, because you're treating me like I'm…" I lower my hand, and I turn away from them.

I cross my arms angrily. "Let's just get to Terawatt Forest, find that stupid architect-dude, and defeat Ephemeris so we can all go _home_. I don't have to talk about _my_ problems with any of you!"

"Alright then," Ratchet says, sounding a bit angry himself. I really don't give a crap right now, to be honest. "Let's get moving."

As we run down the dock a ways, we spot a pair of blue fish-like creatures. They look like they're asleep. Which isn't surprising, seeing as both the fish look rather… obese.

"Hey, Cronk, Zephyr," Ratchet says over his comm as we halt for a moment. "There's a pair of very fat fish-like creatures up ahead."

 _"Oh dear!"_ Zephyr exclaims. _"Those must be Slorgs! They're extremely lazy, but will attack anyone who disturbs their sleep. And they have very sensitive hearing. My recommendation- stay as far away from them as you can and use your most powerful weapons to take them out!"_

"Copy that," Ratchet says. He looks at us. "I'll handle this one." He equips his new Warmonger, and blows up the nearest Slorg. The other Slorg wakes up, sees the remains of its companion, and looks at us with astonishment.

Ratchet easily blows the second Slorg to smithereens before it can do anything else. Then we move on down the dock, where another Slorg is waiting. He never knew what hit him.

For a little while, it's all just leaping around, blasting more Slorgs and purple aliens. Then, after getting up to a higher level, we see a Slorg sitting there, covered with an armoured shell and fast asleep.

Great. This Slorg just had to have a stupid shell. I wonder what the database says to do about _this._


	15. XV: The Fishing Village, Part Two

**Chapter 15! :) Hope you all like! I did skip part of this level too.**

. . .

Well, what to do about the stupid armoured Slorg was easily figured out. Ratchet easily blew him to pieces with three shots from his Warmonger. As we head down the dock, Cronk says, _"Hey rookies! We're picking up a heat signature nearby- looks like some sort of fishing vessel. There may be a Tharpod left after all! Head towards the docks and see if they can help you find Terawatt Forest."_

Okay, so I guess what we're currently running on isn't a dock after all…? Never mind.

"Alright. Thanks, Cronk!" Ratchet replies as we run down the uh… you know what, I'll just keep calling them docks, because I have no idea what these are actually called.

We have to kill a few more creatures before using an old transport platform to get to another set of docks. Then we all see something rather… strange.

It looks like some kind of device floating far above the water, causing said water to swirl around it like a miniature hurricane.

Ratchet says into his comm, "Cronk, Zephyr, there's some kind of device that's affecting the weather here."

 _"Odd,"_ Cronk says. _"We didn't detect it on our scanners earlier. Darn things need to get replaced again…"_

 _"Hm…"_ Zephyr thinks a moment. _"Looks like some sorta weather transmogrification apparatus. That could be what ran the Tharpods outta town! We'll do some digging, you just keep movin'!"_

"Alright," Ratchet replies. "Keep us posted." We hop off the platform onto the dock and blow away a few more armoured Slorgs.

I run ahead, Vac-U equipped and ready to suck up some bolts from crates, when a giant tentacle slams down right in front of me. "Ack!" I barely avoid getting hit, and scramble backwards quickly. Panic is rising in my throat. My adrenaline is rising. This section of the dock is collapsing quickly.

"Adara!" I feel Nefarious digging his claws into my shoulders for a moment as he pulls me away. Then he quickly lets go. I look at him as he turns away and mumbles something.

I open my mouth to say something, but no words come out. What am I supposed to say? Finally I tell him, "Thanks, Nef. Again. I owe you a lot." Nefarious just ignores me, so I turn to Ratchet and say, "I guess we should keep moving." And I realise that was the first time Nefarious called me by my real name. Huh.

Ratchet merely nods in reply and after blowing away some armoured Slorgs, we leap across the gap to the other side and continue on our way. We blast more Slorgs into oblivion, and as we run through a now-open gate (which had to be opened with an old lever), the dock in front of us is smashed by another tentacle. It barely misses us. We quickly back away from the gap, and then look at each other.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Ratchet asks.

I reply, "I think so. That creature's following us."

"You mean we're being _hunted_ by some aquatic _squishy?"_ Nefarious asks.

Ratchet nods. Clank then says, "This is not good. Cronk, Zephyr, do you detect any heat signatures near our position?"

 _"It looked like there was one a few seconds ago, but it's gone now,"_ Cronk replies. _"Tread carefully, rookies. I don't like this one bit…"_

"Alright, thanks Cronk," Ratchet replies.

 _"One more thing!"_ Zephyr says. _"I sent a holo-scan of that weather device to a Terachnoid friend of mine, and he claims it's called a Weather Alteration Systems platform, or W.A.S.P. Apparently it releases a burst of electrons into the clouds in order to create lightning storms. And get this- it was patented by one 'Nevo Binklemeyer.'"_

 _"Sweet criminy!"_ Cronk exclaims. _"That's Dr. Croid's old partner! You think he's the one controlling Ephemeris?"_

 _"Let's not rush to judgement yet,"_ Zephyr replies. _"I'll see what I can dig up on this 'Dr. Binklemeyer.'"_

"Keep us posted," Ratchet tells him.

Then we jump over the gap, and as we run a ways, I say in a low voice, "I'm sorry."

"Say what?" Ratchet says, halting his run. The rest of us stop as well.

I frown and cross my arms. "I… said that I'm sorry. I shouldn't have shouted at you guys like that. It was selfish and stupid, and… it didn't feel good. I actually feel pretty bad." I lower my arms and say, "We should get moving, if we want to get to Terawatt Forest."

"Okay," is all Ratchet says. "Let's go…"

We turn a few corners, and then find a Tharpod in his boat, which was tied to a post on the dock, trying to use his screw gun to screw the windshield on said boat. "Blasted thing…"

We walk up to the edge of the dock in front of the boat, and Ratchet gives a little wave as he says, "Uh, hi?"

"Son of a- ouch! Ow, OW, _OW!"_ The Tharpod, being startled by us, dropped his screw gun on his foot. After some cursing and tools getting tossed around a bit, the Tharpod peeks his head around the windshield and tries to put on a happy face. Despite the fact that his foot must be in obvious pain right now. "Oh, hello there! I didn't think anyone was left in town. What can I do for ya?"

I say, "We're looking for a railway station so we can get to Terawatt Forest and meet with Dr. Frumpus Croid. We were hoping maybe you could, y'know, point us in the right direction."

The Tharpod thinks a moment, then replies, "Well, there's a station over by the lighthouse."

"Great!" Nefarious says, looking impatient. "Well, we know where it is now, so we'll just-"

"Wait!" the Tharpod interrupts. "The lighthouse is only accessible by water! I'd take you over there myself, but the water's too dangerous for boating."

"Is it because of that W.A.S.P. up there?" Ratchet asks.

The Tharpod nods. "Ephemeris hauled it in to create a 'natural habitat' for the sepiads. Storm ran everybody outta town!"

"Why are you still here, then?" I ask. "Why didn't you leave with everyone else?"

"I'm here to keep an eye on things," the Tharpod replies, "to let everyone else know when it's safe to come home. _If_ it'll ever be safe to come home."

"Never fear, citizen," Qwark says. "My companions and I can take care of your weather-thingy. How do we get there?"

"Well…" The Tharpod looks around. His eyes land on a cannon a few yards away. "The collectors use that cannon to launch food over to the sepiad. I suppose you could use it to reach the platform."

"You mean… we're going to crawl _inside_ a cannon that's coated in the remains of who knows what," I say, "and possibly launch ourselves near some creature we know nothing about?"

"Yeah, pretty much," the Tharpod says.

I look at my friends. "I don't suppose the jetpacks are recharged yet, are they?"

"No, I don't think so," Ratchet says. "Even if they had some power, I doubt it would be enough to reach the platform."

I let out a sigh. "Guess I better suck it up then. Let's go." I look at the Tharpod. "And thanks, by the way."

"Happy to help out," the Tharpod replies.

We then head up to the cannon, while Cronk says, _"I thought those tentacles looked familiar! Sepiads are sea-dwelling predators indigenous to planet Reepor. They usually travel in packs and bring food back to their king."_

 _"Maybe we'd better perform a geo-scan of the area,"_ Zephyr replies. _"I don't want the rookies running into a king."_

"Yeah, I don't think any of us want to get mauled anytime soon," I say. Just after I speak, a giant creature bursts through the dock in front of us. It glares down at us, and I continue, "Okay… I really need to stop doing that."

 _"It's the sepiad!"_ Zephyr wails.

 _"Stay calm, rookies!"_ Cronk tells us as we dodge a sweeping tentacle. _"We know just how to take care of this creature."_ He says in a lower voice, _"Don't tell the rookies, but I have no clue how to defeat this thing. Guess we should really get started on those memorial speeches…"_

"We can _hear_ you, you know!" Nefarious shouts as he blasts the sepiad with his Warmonger. The rest of us, except me, do the same. I use my Combuster instead.

 _"Durn it, Cronk, the button's still on! We need to have another talk later about which button does what, now don't we? Hang on, rookies! We're looking up sepiads right now in the database!"_

"Please hurry!" Ratchet says. "I really don't want any of us to end up in this thing's stomach!"

 _"Actually, the database says they have at_ least _fifty stomachs, maybe more, each specially designed for a different stage of digestion,"_ Zephyr says. _"But enough about that. The sepiad's shell is resistant to gunfire, but his underbelly is unprotected. Find a way to expose his stomach, then hit him with everything you've got!"_

"How do we do that?!" Nefarious shrieks.

I look and spot a pulley a few yards to my right. It's holding a fishing net filled with long decayed sea-critters. Yuck. "I think I've got an idea." I aim my Vac-U at the plunger attached to the pulley and use that to move the net up and down, trying to draw the sepiad's attention.

The sepiad spots the net and watches it move. "Yes, that's right," I say. "Watch the net. Eat it. Eat it… come on. You know you want it. Come on. It's filled with yummy sea-critters. Give into your stupid primitive instincts, and eat the fishies."

The sepiad gives in and snatches the net in his mouth. His belly is exposed.

"Now!" Ratchet shouts, and we all bombard the creature's stomach. The sepiad lets out a wail, blood and guts gushing out of its wounds. The sepiad falls backwards into the water, dead.

"Yes!" I say, fist-pumping. "Victory!"

 _"Haha! Great job, rookies!"_ Cronk congratulates. _"I haven't seen action like that since that one episode of_ Lance and Janice _when Lance got eaten by a King Amoeboid!"_

 _"Cronk, I told you not to spoil that episode for me!"_ Zephyr whines.

Ratchet then asks, "Hey, what's this?" He walks over to a stack of crates, where something is sitting. He picks up the object. "Looks like another holo-diary." It levitates out of his hands, and a screen pops out.

 _"Holo-diary 0-0-2. A heinous crime has been committed. This morning, I awoke to find my laboratory in shambles. The vectomorphic tricilloscope was smashed, the crack-resistant flame canisters were cracked- and worst of all, an egregious theft had been committed._

 _"The plans for the protomorphic energy extractor- gone! All that was left behind was a recipe for Drophyd stew. Mr. Dinkles! My friend. My muse! Someone had taken him, but it couldn't be. No… Nevo. What have you done?"_

I frown as the recording ends there. A shiver runs down my back, and my adrenaline level goes up. "Guys, this is starting to give me the willies. We need to find Dr. Croid."

Ratchet nods in agreement. "Then let's go and get rid of that W.A.S.P.!"

"And hopefully not get stung!" I joke. I start laughing. My friends look at me like I'm weird. "You don't get it, do you?... no, of course not. Never mind."


	16. XVI: WASP

**Chapter 16 is up! :) Constructive criticism is appreciated. Also, kudos to whomever guesses who Adara's father is! And maybe I'll copy Amberdiamondsowrds and say you'll get a complimentary toaster if you guess right! (Please don't kill me, Amber!) Btw, I totally recommend her stories, they're awesome! And lastly, there's a little something in this chapter that you all might like...**

 **Onward! :)**

. . .

We crawl into the cannon tubes, which are coated in the scent of decaying fish. There are only three tubes on the cannon, so of course Nefarious and I get paired up. Somehow I think ratchet's trying to play matchmaker here or something. It's a little annoying.

So now here I am, pressed up against a robotic supervillain, waiting for the rusty old cannon to power up fire. To pass the time, I decide to make some conversation.

"I'm sorry I tried to pry into your personal life," I tell him. "It's none of my business."

"You're darn right it isn't," Nefarious replies.

I hadn't noticed until now that his colour looks a bit different. "How about I ask you something that won't pry as much. Like, why did you change your colour from blue to purple?"

"I dunno," Nefarious says. "I guess I just got tired of blue."

"Mhm," I reply. I then realise how close our heads are. My heart rate increases, and I start blushing. I can only hope that my fur covers it up. "How long does it take this thing to power up, anyway?"

"Don't ask me," Nefarious tells me.

"Hey, did you guys turn the wheel in your tubes?" Ratchet's voice called.

"What wheel?" Qwark asks. "Ooh! I see it! Ow! My head! If I turn it first, do I get candy?"

"No, Qwark, you do not," Clank tells him. "We already turned the one in our tube. I suggest the rest of you do the same."

"That explains why it's taking forever!" Nefarious says. He jerks his head up to look at the wheel, and he bumps my head.

"Ow!" I let out a sigh of annoyance. The robot squirms around a bit, trying to move his arms.

"If I could just move my arms-!"

"Nefarious, stop squirming, I'll get it myself!" I shout, trying to avoid the temptation to kick him. This is a debacle!

"It's not my fault this tube is so small!" Nefarious snarls. He finally gets his claws on the wheel. "There! Now… one… two… three! I got it!"

"Uh, is the wheel supposed to come off?" Qwark asks stupidly.

Ratchet lets out a groan. "No, Qwark. Put it back on, and turn the wheel counter-clockwise."

"Got it!" Qwark says. After a moment, he asks, "Which way is counter-clockwise?"

"It's _left_ , you moron!" I shout. "Turn… the wheel… LEFT!"

 _"Say, this could easily be a_ Lance and Janice _episode!"_ Zephyr exclaims. _"Get the audio recorder, Cronk!"_

"This isn't funny!" Nefarious snarls.

Suddenly, without warning, the cannon finally fires. "Auuuugh!" We're all caught in the mini-hurricane, and pulled into the eye of the storm. The storm slingshots us upwards onto a platform, where we land on either our backs or our stomachs.

I stand up wobbly, along with my friends. I start vomiting on the spot. I hear Qwark say, "Don't worry, citizen. It happens to the best of us!" Then I hear him start vomiting too. Then Ratchet.

Nefarious says, "Wow… just wow. You can defeat _me,_ the universe's greatest supervillain… but you can't keep your dinners in your stomachs after getting only a little dizzy. _Pathetic."_

"I think a 'little dizzy' is an understatement, Doctor," Clank comments.

After we finish cleaning our stomachs of any food whatsoever, Cronk says, _"Zeph, look! They made it!"_

 _"Nice job, rookies. Though we didn't get that recording of your hilarious bickering… uh, anyway, according to these plans, the only way to shut down the platform's power generator is to destroy three charging docks."_

"Thanks, guys!" Ratchet replies.

We cross several bridges, only to encounter a patrol of minions. They're surprised to see us there, but immediately attack without another thought. I slash with my Razor Claws, Ratchet shoots with his Warmonger, Qwark manages to take down a few with his Combuster, and Nefarious just rips off metal with his claws.

I deployed a Zurkon earlier, and naturally he's singing. "Die, die, little robots! How Mr. Zurkon wonders how dead you are! Up above the world you die, like scrap metal falling from the sky! Die, die, little robots! How Mr. Zurkon wonders how dead you are!"

Yep, he just ruined "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" for me. Stupid Zurkon…

Apparently Ratchet's thinking the same thing, as he says after blowing up the last minion, "Does anyone find it disturbing that Zurkon has altered the lyrics of a nursery rhyme to fit this situation?"

"You've heard that song?" I ask incredulously. "'Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star?'"

"Uh, yeah," Ratchet replies. "I sang it all the time with the kids at the orphanage, back on Veldin."

"Huh," I say. "If Earth really had made first contact with an alien species, surely we'd have heard about it by now… right? That's where the song originated. I think."

"Mr. Zurkon is confused," Zurkon announces. We just ignore him.

"Actually," Nefarious says, "the song came from Kerwan. Get your facts straight, squishy."

"But then… that means…" I look at Nefarious. "Oh, god… god… god…"

"What's wrong?" Ratchet asks.

"Nothing," I say. "Except the fact that my planet, Earth, seems to be the same planet as _Kerwan!_ " I shake my head and sigh. "I'll explain later. Let's just get moving."

We run down the platform a ways, where we encounter a problem. There's a set of six green switches. And to make things worse, there's a giant fan that activates every few seconds or so. We equip our Magne-boots, then run up to the switches. The fan deactivates a moment, giving us enough time to hit three of the switches. Just as I jump up to hit the fourth switch, the fan activates. I'm flung backwards over the edge of the platform. "Augh!" I equip my Hookshot and quickly grapple onto the ledge.

"Adara!" My friends look down at me. Zurkon hangs around near them uncertainly.

"Don't worry," I call. "I'm okay!"

I use the cable to reel myself back to the edge of the platform. I pull myself up over the edge, and disengage my grapple. I look at my friends. "See? I'm-!" Suddenly a pair of arms are wrapped around me. And they aren't Qwark's, thank goodness. "Uh… Nef?"

"Eh?" Nefarious suddenly shoves me away from him. "Ack! Get away from me! And never speak of this again!"

Zurkon then says, "Are you going to kiss? Because Mr. Zurkon can make fireworks for you…" Basically Zurkon is saying he wants to get back to killing things. We all continue to ignore him.

I stare at Nefarious, who crosses his arms and turns away from me. For some reason, the song _Still Falling For You_ by Ellie Goulding starts playing in my head. And I decide for both my and Nefarious' sakes not to press the matter of his hugging me. "Let's just activate the rest of those switches."

"Right," Ratchet says. We activate the rest of the switches and then an elevator lowers. We hop on and the elevator rises up to the next level.

Cronk the announces, _"Looks like you found one of the charging docks. Blast it, rookies!"_

"Copy that," Ratchet says. He equips his Warmonger and launches several missiles at it. Though they explode upon impact, the charging dock is still intact.

 _"Hm… there must be some kind of forcefield protecting it,"_ Zephyr tells us. _"All of you try using your weapons at the same time to overload the forcefield."_

"Alright," Ratchet says. "Everyone, get your Warmongers ready."

"I'm not sure I should be using giant missile launchers yet," I say _._ "But if you insist…" I equip my Warmonger and aim it at the charging dock, same as my friends.

"Okay. Ready… aim… fire!" We all fire our Warmongers at the same time. That thing has so much kick that I'm knocked onto my back.

I watch as the missiles annihilate that charging dock. The debris from said charging dock flies through the air over the sides of the platform.

 _"Charging dock Alpha deactivated,"_ the Steward says.

"Mr. Zurkon is bored…"

"That was quite the light show," I comment, standing up.

 _"One down, two to go!"_ Zephyr exclaims.

As we move on down the platform, lightning suddenly strikes one of the panels in front of us. We quickly come to a halt.

 _"Those conductor panels seem to absorb the static electricity in the air. You may want to stay away from 'em, rookies. Where there's static electricity, there's lighting!"_ Cronk says.

"Um yeah…." I say, looking at the black panels in front of us. "Slight problem. These panels are right where we need to go."

 _"Just wait for the right moment to get across, then,"_ Zephyr says.

"Alright," Ratchet says. "Here we go!"

We just manage to cross the panels just before lightning struck again. I can feel the static electricity raising my fur slightly. "I guess lightning _can_ strike in the same place twice."

"Mr. Zurkon is still bored," Zurkon complains. "Mr. Zurkon not like furry girl's stupid joke."

Then up ahead we encounter a set of moving platforms.

"You have got to be kidding me," I mutter. We all manage to get across the platforms to the other side, despite my initial fears. I don't think that'll be the last time we encounter such platforms.

 _"Alright, rookies,"_ Cronk says. _"You're coming up on another charging dock. You know what to do!"_

"Okay," Ratchet says. He looks at the rest of us and continues, "Here goes nothing."

We reequip our Warmongers, aim, and fire. The charging dock is engulfed by the explosions.

 _"Charging dock Beta deactivated,"_ the Steward declares. I wonder if it's the same one from Spog's facility… probably not.

 _"Ha-HA! Way to go, rookies!"_ Zephyr exclaims.

"Uh, not to rain on the parade or anything," I say, "but how are we supposed to get down when the charging docks are destroyed? We need an exit strategy or something."

A minion armed with two missile launchers flies to our position and starts firing at us. As we dodge and blast the minion to smithereens, Cronk says, _"Bah! Exit strategies are for sissies! In my day, we practiced a little thing we called 'winging it!'"_

"I don't _care,"_ I say, somewhat annoyed, "if it's 'for sissies!' Do you really want us to die here and become sepiad food? And then have to tell _Miss Talwyn_ about how Ratchet died on a backwater planet because Cronk was too worried about us looking like 'sissies?' Oh, yeah, that sounds terribly _fun!"_

The minion is finally destroyed as I speak. Zurkon blew up in the middle of the battle, so we don't have to hear him whine of boredom anymore.

 _"Alright, alright! You win!"_ Cronk sounds very annoyed right now. _"We'll figure something out. Just find the last charging dock in the meantime."_

"Got it," Ratchet replies.

We run through several tubes, then encounter a problem. The door ahead is sealed off, and there's some kind of lock, I guess, next to one corner of said door. There is a bridge we can use to get to it, but that's useless for obvious reasons.

"Hm…" Ratchet walks up to the door, scrutinising it. He equips a gadget that I haven't seen in a very long time. "It's a good thing I kept this Trespasser, or we'd have a problem."

"Hey, I remember that gadget!" I exclaim. The door slides open, and then my friends look at me with raised eyebrows. I look right back at them. "What?"

"Never mind," Ratchet says. "Let's keep moving."

As we head down the next tube, Cronk says, _"You're approaching the last charging dock. Forge ahead, rookies! We're with you in spirit!"_

 _"And we may have figured out an escape strategy,"_ Zephyr tells us. _"We're still working out the kinks, though, so be patient!"_

"Alright," Ratchet says. "Thanks, guys."

Sure enough, on the other side of the tube, is the last charging dock. We all equip our Warmongers again, aim, and fire.

The charging dock is decimated, and the Steward announces, _"Charging dock Gamma deactivated."_

"Hey, Cronk, Zephyr," I say. "We could use an exit strategy now. Y'know, while we're still _alive!"_


	17. XVII: The Lighthouse

**Chapter 17 is up! :) Also, I noticed in the traffic graph that some people view chapters more than once. Um, is that a good thing, or a bad thing?**

. . .

 _"Error. Error. Energy levels insufficient to maintain vertical thrust,"_ the Steward announces.

"Any day now!" I exclaim as we all equip our Magne-boots.

 _"Got you covered, rookie,"_ Zephyr says. _"Get across that bridge as quickly as possible. There should be some sort of escape vessel."_

"Alright," Ratchet says. "C'mon, we have to move!"

As we run across the bridge (which is pretty darn long), the Steward announces, _"Two minutes before total systems failure… shutting down fan four… fan six… fan nine… fan twelve. If I were you, I would start praying."_

We finally make it to the other side of the bridge. And right there is a raft.

 _"Everyone into the raft!"_ Zephyr orders.

We all hop into the raft, despite Nefarious whining about how ridiculous this plan is. The raft then lowers down a shaft, and then pops out the hole at the bottom.

We all fall with the raft, screaming.

"I HATE ALL OF YOU!" Nefarious shrieks as loud as his vocal processors would allow, damaging all our eardrums.

The raft lands in the water, us on top. We'd probably lay there for a while, except for one itsy-bitsy problem. The W.A.S.P. is coming down after us.

I immediately stand up and grab the handlebars of the raft. "Hang on! I got this!" I pull a lever, activating the raft's motor, then press a button on a handle bar for the gas. I know a thing or two about piloting rafts. My uncle would take my step-brother and I fishing frequently.

The raft accelerates forward quickly. I look up and see the W.A.S.P. coming down fast.

 _"Hurry, rookies!"_ Zephyr shrieks.

"Go faster, Adara!" Ratchet yells. My friends are clinging to the sides of the raft for dear life.

"I'm going as fast as thing will take us!" I shout back. I jerk the handlebars to avoid a tortemoth, but not quickly enough. We hear a pop, and the sound of air coming out a hole.

I'm not worried about that at the moment. We need to get away from that W.A.S.P.

"WE'RE GONNA DIE!" Qwark screams. "AND I RAN OUT OF CLEAN UNDERWEAR!"

"Shut up!" I snap. "WE'RE NOT GONNA DIE!" I look at Clank, who's still hanging out on Ratchet's back. "CLANK! I need you and Nefarious to find some way to patch up that hole. If we take on any more water, this thing is gonna sink like a rock, and we'll be fish food!" Then I look ahead, and steer to narrowly avoid a rock protruding out of the water.

"Secret Agent Clank is ready for duty," Clank tells me.

"Let's save the jokes for when we're _not_ trying to avoid getting killed!" Nefarious shrieks. While the two robots try to fix the hole, I continue to pilot the raft.

 _"Just thirty yards more, rookies,"_ Cronk says, _"and you'll be clear!"_

Five yards… ten yards… fifteen…

"Come on, come on," I say to myself. "Just a little further."

"We can't fix the leak!" Nefarious tells me. "At the rate the water's coming in, we won't make it."

I spot a rock up ahead. It looks just right for a ramp and it's very close. "Hold that thought, Neffy! We may get out of this yet." I steer the raft towards the rock. "Hold on!"

The raft hits the rock and ramps off, soaring high over the water. I glance behind us as the W.A.S.P. barely misses us by inches.

Then I look ahead and see we're headed directly towards a dock. "Uh, this may get a little bumpy."

The raft lands on the dock and we tumble out onto the sandy beach next to it. We just lay there for a bit, dazed, before Ratchet stands up and says, "C'mon, let's go."

I nod, and stand up, dusting myself off. The rest of our friends do the same. Nefarious looks at me and says, "I have to say it… that was… impressive. For a squishy."

"Well, Nef," I say, putting a hand on his shoulder, "we squishies have a knack or two when it comes to life or death situations."

"Don't push your luck," Nefarious tells me.

I lower my hand, trying not to laugh. "I know my boundaries."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Ratchet asks, raising an eyebrow and looking at me. Everyone else is staring at me as well.

Aw, crap… they thought I was flirting. "I didn't mean it that way," I say, flushing. Suddenly I feel very nervous. "I'm not…that is… it's not that you're not sexy, so to speak… you are kinda sexy, but I… I… bah! I don't need this!" I shake my head. "This is ridiculous! We need to find Dr. Croid, not waste time arguing over people's _feelings!"_

"I would have to agree," Clank says, hopping back on Ratchet's back. "We should get moving."

Ratchet nods. "Yeah, this is just getting weird."

As we're about to leave, I spot something in the sand. "Hold on. I think I found something." I reach down and pick up the object. I dust off the wet sand, examining it. "It looks like it's another holo-diary." I show it to them.

"It looks like it's damaged," Ratchet says.

I turn to Nefarious and toss the holo-diary to him. "Okay, Nef, you fix it."

The robotic scientist barely manages to catch it. "Are you serious?!"

"Yes," I say, crossing my arms.

"Oh fine!" Nefarious takes off a piece of plating and examines the circuitry. Then he says, "I can't fix it. Sorry, but not sorry!" He puts the plating back on and throws the holo-diary back at me.

I catch it. "Did you even take a good look?"

Nefarious crosses his arms. "If I had some parts, _maybe_ I could fix it."

"Let's go talk to that Tharpod guy again," Ratchet says. "He may be able to help us out."

I nod, putting the holo-diary in my neural interface. "Alright then. What are we waiting for?" Just as we are about to go find that Tharpod fisherman, a giant sepiad smashes the dock in front of us. The creature glares down at us with menacing eyes.

 _"It's the King Sepiad!"_ Cronk wails.

"Oh, yeah," I say, trying to hide my terror. "That explains why this one looks a lot fatter than the previous…"

The sepiad roars at us, and Ratchet says, "I don't think he liked your comment about his weight!"

At that moment, the Tharpod fisherman shows up in his skiff. "Hey, you need a lift?"

"Yes!" I shout. We all Hookshot onto the side of his skiff, and start waterskiing as he pulls us away from the sepiad. I mean, literally water skiing. I'm having trouble staying stable.

"Just bend your knees slightly and keep your back straight!" Ratchet coaches.

I nod, looking behind us. The king sepiad is following and he does not look happy in the slightest. "Could you go a little faster? He's gaining on us!"

"Oh, sure!" the Tharpod says. The skiff puts on some more speed, and the Tharpod continues, "There I was, about to leave for Tortem Fi when I said to myself, 'Self, you should help out those nice heroes who took out the W.A.S.P.!"

"And we thank you for your assistance, citizen!" Qwark says proudly.

"Heck of a skiff, isn't she?" the Tharpod asks, evidently not hearing Qwark. "Won it off a buddy in a poker game a few years back. Her gel receptors lock up every now and again, she hauls when it counts!"

"Wait, what about the gel receptors?" Ratchet asks. The Tharpod doesn't hear him.

"We're nearing the lighthouse!" the Tharpod calls. "I'll steer ya towards the shock towers! We used to use 'em to scare off the sepiads before everyone moved outta town!"

"Can this get any worse?" Ratchet asks no one in particular.

"I don't doubt that it'll get worse," I reply.

And they do get worse. As we approach a shock tower, the Tharpod says, "You'll have to activate the tower manually! Here we go!"

"How are we supposed to do that?!" I shout.

"Just use your Swingshots to grapple on and your momentum should spin it around!" the Tharpod replies. "Okay… three, two, one, now!"

Not bothering to correct the Tharpod, we disengage and grapple onto the shock tower. The Tharpod was right when he said that our momentum would start spinning it. I close my eyes, trying to keep from getting dizzy.

The shock tower powers up and electrocutes the sepiad as it approaches the tower.

"Yes!" Ratchet shouts with enthusiasm. "We got it!"

"Nice one!" the Tharpod calls to us as we grapple onto the back of his skiff. "Nothing says 'don't eat me' like five-thousand decatones of electricity coursing through your body!"

"The sepiad is still following us!" Clank tells us.

I look back and see Clank is right. This sepiad is just not giving up!

"I'll give him this- he is persistent!" the Tharpod exclaims. "Probably hasn't eaten in a while!"

Oh, that's _really_ comforting!" Nefarious shouts sarcastically. "We're about to end up in this thing's gullet, and all you can think about the possibility that he's starving?!"

"Yeah, pretty much!" the Tharpod says, evidently not noticing the villain's sarcasm. "We're comin' up on another shock tower! Time to really get him angry! Three… two… one!"

We latch onto the shock tower, and power it up. The sepiad gets electrocuted again, wailing in pain.

"Ha-ha!" I say. "It feels good to kick butt ! Bon voyage, sucker!"

We now grapple back onto the skiff, and even the Tharpod is becoming enthusiastic. "Yeah! That's for swallowing my neighbor!"

And now, along with the skiing itself, we have to dodge mines! My luck may be running out, because I'm headed straight for a mine, and I don't have enough time to dodge it. I close my eyes, waiting for the end.

But I'm saved. I feel a clawed hand pick me up like I weigh nothing more than a sack of apples. Then I'm hoisted onto my saviour's back. I quickly disengage my Hookshot and cling to him as he jumps over the mine. "Thank you… again."

"Right," Nefarious replies. "Don't get used to it."

I press my ear to his smooth metal back as I hold on tight, listening to his gears whirr softly. For a brief moment, I feel calm. And then I realise that I don't just like him as an ally or a friend. We're probably going to die, and it's only now that I realise my feelings. Great… I'm in love with Dr. Nefarious. A villain. An organic-lifeform hater.

"Sorry about that!" the Tharpod calls to us. "We dropped a lot of mines around the cay to ward off the sepiads! Didn't really work, but hey, it made waterskiing more interesting!"

After some more mine dodging, I raise my head briefly and look back at the sepiad. "He's gaining on us!"

"Don't worry!" the Tharpod says. Another few decatones of power, and we'll be sepiad free! Probably. Ready for another shock tower?"

"As ready as we'll ever be!" Ratchet calls. We detach from the skiff and hook onto the tower. And the sepiad is electrocuted again. You'd think the dumb brute would've learned after the first shock.

Then we latch back onto the skiff. The Tharpod shouts, "I can't believe it! We killed the king sepiad! Wait until the guys at work hear this! Hang on while I swing you to the lighthouse."

Soon we're safe and sound on the dock, and after helping us repair the holo-diary, the Tharpod bids us goodbye.

"Farewell, folks!" the Tharpod says as he hops back in his skiff next to the dock. "I'm off to live a long, happy life free of irony or tragedy of any kind! Take care!"

"You too," Ratchet says, waving to him.

As the Tharpod pilots his skiff away, I turn to Nefarious. "I have something to say as well."

"Can't it wait?" Nefarious asks.

"We could have _died_ back there!" I snap. "It can't wait!" I shake my head. "Sorry, I'm just trying to make sense of this right now."

"Make sense of what?" Clank asks, hopping off Ratchet's back for the moment.

"A lot of things," I say. "Look, Nefarious, I… when we were being chased by that sepiad, I realised something. I may never get another chance to say this, so please listen."

Nefarious crosses his arms, frowning. "Get on with it, then."

"I… love you," I mumble.

"What?" Nefarious is looking at me intently now. "What did you say?"

I look down at my feet, my adrenaline level skyrocketing. "I-I… it's… that is… I… said that I love you. I know you don't feel the same way, but I needed to say it."

There's a long silence. Qwark breaks it by asking, "So… are you gonna smooch now?"

I glare at Qwark. Then I shake my head. "Let's get moving. We're not gonna find Terawatt Forest by standing around all day."

 _"Ahem, right,"_ Zephyr says. _"The railway station should be on the other side of that lighthouse."_

"How long were you listening?" I ask as we head down the dock.

 _"Ever since you landed on the dock next to the lighthouse,"_ Cronk says. _"This has been an interesting few days."_

"It certainly has!" I snap. "And we'll never speak of this again, do you hear?"

Suddenly the sepiad burst out of the water, holding the poor Tharpod fisherman and his skiff in his mouth.

"Oh dear lasagna…" I stare as the sepiad swallow both the Tharpod and skiff whole. Then it glares down at us, an angry light in its eyes.

"RUUUUUN!"

. . .

 **Okay, yeah, I'm not the universe's greatest romance writer. But I think I may have done a decent job. Besides, it felt like high-time that Adara realised and confessed her feelings, yada, yada. Lol! Hopefully. Constructive criticism is appreciated.**


	18. XVIII: Terawatt Forest, Part One

**Okay, so chapter 18 is up. I had to fix a loophole in the previous chapter regarding the holo-diary, but it's fine now.**

. . .

 _"There's no time to waste!"_ Zephyr tells us. _"Get to the top of that lighthouse as quickly as you can!"_

Just as Zephyr speaks, with one sweep of its giant tentacle, the sepiad destroys the lighthouse.

 _"You were saying?"_ Cronk asks.

 _"Shut up, Cronk!"_ Zephyr snaps. _"Okay, you need to find some way to attack its belly, like you did with the first sepiad. Or just run for the railway station and hope you can outrun the beast."_

"Got that!" Ratchet replies as we dodge another sweeping tentacle. "Everyone, get your Warmongers!"

I equip my Warmonger, only to find a problem. "It's out of juice!"

"So is mine!" Qwark says. "I think."

"Crap," Ratchet mutters. "Plasma Bomb Launchers?"

"I don't have one!" I shout.

We dodge the sepiad as it tries to snap us into its mouth.

 _"Try using your Darkstar Fission Tethers,"_ Cronk suggests. _"Maybe another dose of electricity will finish him off."_

"Alright," I say. We all equip our Darkstar Fission Tethers and start electrocuting the king sepiad.

It freezes up, and we keep shocking it. For a moment, I think we're going to succeed and finally kill the sepiad, when our Darkstar Fission Tethers run out of juice. Oh great…

"Maybe we should use our Arc Lashers…?" I look at my friends.

"Here's what I say," Nefarious says. "RUUUN!"

"I'm inclined to agree with you!" Ratchet shouts as we dodge another tentacle attack from the sepiad. "We can't waste all our ammo on this thing, we may need it later. Let's go!"

We all follow Ratchet, running across the debris from the destroyed lighthouse, and down the dock. That sepiad is not giving up, though. He smashes the dock in front of us with his tentacle.

We leap across the gap and keep running.

 _"Come on, rookies!"_ Zephyr sounds anxious as he speaks. _"You're almost there!"_

"What about the town?" I ask. "If the sepiads stay here, the villagers can't come back!"

"Adara, there's something you should have learned by now," Ratchet says as we jump down into a hatch that leads to the railway station. "You can't always be the hero."

"But I want to try," I say. "We can't just-"

"Look, when we stop Ephemeris and get off Magnus," Ratchet tells me, "we'll get someone to get rid of the sepiads. But we need to focus on the bigger picture."

"And what about that poor fisherman that _thing_ just ate?!" I snap. "Right now he's probably floating around in the digestive juices of that sepiad's fifty stomachs!"

"I know!" Ratchet yells back. "I've seen a lot of people die, okay? Including _Alister!_ You can't save _everyone_ \- the universe just _doesn't_ work that way! We did try, okay? But we can't win every battle we fight. But if we survive, we can try and make the best of the situation." He sighs and continues, "I'm sorry if this is hard for you, but the universe has a cruel sense of humour. Sometimes we just need to swallow our sorrows and deal with it."

I look down at my feet for a moment. Then I look back up at Ratchet. "Alright. Let's get onto that railway platform for Terawatt Forest."

After hopping on the railway platform and getting it moving, Clank suggests, "Perhaps we should watch that holo-diary we found while we wait to go to Terawatt Forest."

I nod, and take the holo-diary out of my neural interface. The device levitates out of my hand and out pops a screen. It shows a lab that looks like it hasn't been cleaned in years- covered in cobwebs, cracked computer screens…

 _"Holo-diary 0-0-3. It has been twenty-two years since I lost Mr. Dinkles. I checked the fjords of Rank-Arun, the meadows of Tortem Fi, and even the bluffs of Vendros. Nothing. But I know he's out there._

 _"Poor, poor Mr. Dinkles. I shudder to think of the countless birthdays he spent as a slave to Nevo's machinations. What plans does that traitor have for these creatures? I must act before it's too late. I have repurposed an old servitor drone to scour the planet for his whereabouts._

 _"Using a sample of Mr. Dinkles' DNA, Ephemeris will run a comparative analysis of every life form it encounters until it finds a match. Without Mr. Dinkles, Nevo's plans will crumble, and Magnus will be safe from his treachery."_

The holo-diary ends there.

"You know I'm actually starting to like it here?" Qwark says. "Sure, it's a planet riddled with murderous robots and exotic predators. But take away all that and what do you have? A presidential retreat-slash-water park!"

"Can I kill him now?" Nefarious asks, glaring at the green moron.

"Same here," I say. "His constant stupidity is becoming tiresome."

"Hey!" Qwark looks offended. "I'll have you know that I beat Jarvis in the presidential election by negative thirty votes!"

"Say what?!" I shout. "You do realise that means you can't actually be President of Polaris, you dimwit! Whoever this 'Jarvis' is, he should have beaten you!"

"Qwark, you really need to learn the difference between positive and negative numbers," Ratchet tells him. "Qwark won by thirty votes. He's just being an idiot. And no, neither of you can kill him."

"We can make it look like an accident," Nefarious insists.

"Uh…" Ratchet considers this a moment. "Still no. Now enough about Qwark. What about Ephemeris? I mean, Croid built it, yet it somehow ended up in Nevo's control."

"Perhaps Dr. Croid can tell us what happened," Clank says.

Ratchet nods in agreement. "Let's hope so."

. . .

Within a few hours of discussing Ephemeris, Qwark's nonexistent supply of clean undies, and such, we finally arrive in Terawatt Forest. As we hop off the railway platform, Zephyr says, _"Hang on, rookies."_ His voice sounds like it's filled with static. _"We're picking up some kind of electromagnetic interference. Switching to emergency channel."_

Then their voices come clearer. Cronk says, _"Sweet criminy, that was weird. What the heck was that?"_

 _"Looks like those rocks are emitting some kind of aberrant energy signature,"_ Zephyr says. _"Look at these readings! Eight hundred decatones, twelve hundred decatones…"_

As Zephyr speaks, I walk up to a small glowing rock. There are others strewn around the area. I pick up one of the rocks and immediately feel a tingling sensation run through my body. But there's the sense of dread building up in my mind, but I don't know why. And I get the strangest feeling that this rock is somehow… alive.

I drop the rock and back away from it quickly. My friends look at me like I'm strange.

"What?" I ask.

"Are you alright?" Ratchet asks. "You dropped that rock like it was hot iron."

"I'm fine, I guess," I say. "Let's get moving."

We run down a path, and suddenly, out of a hole, pops an insect-like creature.

"Teratrope!" I jump forward and slash it with my Razor Claws.

I keep slashing its guts until Ratchet says, "Uh, Adara, I think it's dead now."

I look up at him. "I want to be _sure._ I hate arachnids…"

"Seeing as you've shredded most of its internal organs," Nefarious says, laughing at me, "I think it's safe to say it's pretty dead."

"Oh, what are you laughing at?" I ask. I pick up the dead Teratrope and throw it at him.

Nefarious catches it, and gives me a glare. "I hate you."

I roll my eyes and look at Ratchet. "Shall we keep moving?"

The Lombax nods and we continue down the path, where we find a deactivated holographic bridge. There's a lock next to it similar to the one from the W.A.S.P.

"Time for the Trespasser," Ratchet says, equipping the device and sticking it into the lock. Within a few moments, the bridge is up. We cross to the other side, where a strange, spiked creature climbs up from a nearby ledge. It glares at us.

"Uh, I don't suppose you're a friendly critter?" I ask.

The creature snarls and suddenly grows larger. We all stare at it, then look at each other.

"This went from weird to freaky," Ratchet says.

"Let's take it down!" I reply, equipping my Combuster and deploy a Zurkon.

"Mr. Zurkon has not had coffee yet," Zurkon says, "but is still ready for the killing!"

We quickly defeat the creature, but Qwark smells worse than he did earlier. "Qwark, you need to have your bowels checked, or something!" I say. "You smell horrific."

"You mean horrifically _awesome,_ right?" Qwark asks.

I shake my head. "No. Horrifically terrible."

Qwark pouts. Then Zephyr says, _"That creature had the same energy signature as the rocks. Eating them must have caused some sort of mutation."_

"You mean these squishies are stupid enough to eat rocks?" Nefarious asks.

"I guess they thought the rocks tasted good," I say. "You never know. Maybe rocks are a delicacy here."

"You're weird," Nefarious tells me.

"Everyone says that," I say.

 _"Maybe Nevo experimented on 'em!"_ Cronk exclaims. _"I tell ya, I don't like the cut of this guy's jib! Pickin' on harmless animals! For shame, sir!"_

"'Cut of this guy's jib?'" I repeat. "What does that mean?"

"It is an old sailor's term referring to a person's personality," Clank informs me.

"Mr. Zurkon does not like sailors," Zurkon tells us.

"Let's just get moving," I say. Then I see we have to cross over a bunch of giant mushrooms to get to the other side.

Great. More of nature's trampolines. Oh well. I just need to suck it up and deal with it.

. . .

 **Now, seriously. Can someone seriously review, and tell me what they think? Like what their favourite and least favourite parts are, what they feel I should improve upon, and if anything was rushed. I want to improve as a writer, and I can't do that if people are not going to point out the flaws and good parts of this story.**

 **I'm writing this story because a long time ago, before I had an account here, I once read a story with a Nefarious x OC pairing. But for some reason it was deleted. And now, as far as I know, there isn't a single story on this site that has a Nef x OC pairing anymore. So I wanted to write this story in the hopes that at least one story with this pairing would be here.**

 **But I want it to be** ** _good._** **I want to make sure that this story will reach it's potential. So I'm asking,** ** _please_** **, someone say something. Even one review would mean a lot to me. I've written 18 chapters! Before I go much further, I need to know if you guys like where I'm taking this or not.**


	19. XIX: Terawatt Forest, Part Two

**Chapter 19 is up! :) And I got a review!**

 **KayxClankForever:** **I'm liking it so far, my apologies for being so quiet. Personally I don't read many Canon x OC stories, however since it's new and different (and involves a canon character that isn't overused in such pairings) I have stuck around to read this fic every-time a new chapter comes out.**

 **I also like the backstory that is developing for Adara, and other things which have been added alongside the normal plot to All 4 One. These extra details make the fic more engaging and interesting, not bland and linear like most self-insert/OC insert fics based around one of the games.**

 _ **Reply: Oh, wow! I didn't even know that you were reading this! Thanks for the compliments, I really appreciate it. This is the BIGGEST project I've worked on so far, and it's nice to know that someone is enjoying it. Yeah, while I liked All 4 One overall, I felt like there were some parts that had potential that wasn't used. Plus, I thought it would be kinda fun if the Trespasser was brought back for nostalgia.**_

 ** _And I'm glad you like the way I'm developing Adara's backstory. I don't want a bunch of information to be tossed to the characters (and readers) too quickly, so that's why I'm keeping it slow and steady. Lol!_**

 _ **Anyway, I'm glad you're liking this story so far, and I look forward to hearing more from you.**_

. . .

After getting past the trampoline-like mushrooms, we cross a metal bridge, where on the other side we encounter another one of those spikey creatures. We easily take it down, though Zurkon is disappointed that the battle ended so quickly.

"Why is the killing always over so soon?" Zurkon whines. You'd think that a robot with a deep voice like his wouldn't sound whiny, but he does.

"Because it is, Zurkon," I reply.

"That's _Mr._ Zurkon to you!" Zurkon declares. I swear, this guy can be so annoying sometimes.

Ratchet rolls his eyes and says, "C'mon, let's keep moving."

And of course we have more giant mushrooms to bounce around on. We quickly get to the top, where we're ambushed by minions. Minions, here of all places!

"This isn't good," I say as I destroy one minion with my Razor Claws. "If minions are here, then they must know where Croid is!"

Ratchet smashes several minions with his Omniwrench. "Then we'll just have to find him before they do."

After the area is clear of minions, Ratchet has to use his Trespasser again to activate another holographic bridge. "You know," Ratchet says as the bridge flickers to life, "I wonder how Gadgetron technology ended up here on Magnus."

"Maybe Gadgetron had a presence here one time?" I say, thinking of planet Barlow. "I don't know. Does it matter?"

"In the interests of Magnus' history," Clank tells me, "it does."

"Let's focus on Ephemeris and not on stuff that probably happened _eons_ ago," Ratchet says.

We then cross the bridge to a platform, where Qwark uses his Vac-U on a plunger to raise another platform. Finally, he's done something even remotely useful!

A minion decides he's going to land there so he can try to blast us into oblivion, only for him to get caught in some kind of blue beam of light. We watch as a colossal robot perched on a ledge not far away pulls the minion up to him with the beam. Then said colossal robot smashes the minion in its hands.

The robot starts looking around for more victims and sets his sights on us. Ratchet then equips a weapon I haven't seen before and toss out a ball behind us. The ball lands on the platform, and out pops a robot resembling a Lombax holding blasters. While the mysterious giant robot is distracted with that, we run down a ramp to the ground below.

Zephyr then comments, _"Interesting. Those guardian bots have been modified with Omegatron tractor beams. Dr. Croid must have been expecting a serious assault."_

"You mean there are _more_ of those things here?" I ask as we blow away another minion who was controlling some kind of mechanical suit. A sort of robot within a robot, so to speak.

"Can Mr. Zurkon kill them?" Zurkon asks. Predictable.

 _"Yes, Adara,"_ Cronk replies, ignoring Zurkon. _"These bots are strewn all around Terawatt Forest. I don't think that's the last you've seen of them, rookies."_

After getting a rusty old elevator up and running, we ride it up to another path. As we run down it, we're attacked by a bunch of flying creatures that look like they're a mix between a squid and a fish.

Needless to say Qwark was useless, as he hid behind a rock until all the flying fish/squid creatures are gone. I look at Qwark as he crouches behind the rock, trembling.

"Qwark, you can come out now," I tell him.

Qwark stands up, looking embarrassed. "Er, yes. Uh, great work, team! The Q-Force once again triumphs over nature!"

"I want a different team name," Nefarious declares.

"The Mr. Zurkon Club?" Zurkon suggests. We all look at him. He stares back silently.

"Uh, how about we figure out the name later?" Ratchet says.

I nod in agreement. "Let's go."

We run down a ramp, down a path, and encounter another minion in a robotic suit. He's easily taken out. Then we use a set of Hookshots to slingshot up over a ledge, where we're attacked by more of those flying fish/squid creatures. I wonder if they're Magnus' equivalent of bats. These things are pretty creepy.

After killing all the fish/squid things, we Hookshot our way to another piece of land, where we take out more Teratropes and those spikey critters. Mr. Zurkon blows up at some point in the battle.

"These things are _everywhere,"_ I say.

"Eh, you'll get used to battling a lot of animals," Ratchet tells me. After killing the remaining Teratropes, we run down a path where we battle _another_ minion in _another_ suit.

"There aren't too many minions here, surprisingly," Ratchet comments.

"So what?" Nefarious asks as he rips the plating off the suit and rips the circuitry inside to shreds.

The minion's suit thrashes around, trying to throw him off.

"Well, don't you think there should be more if there was an actual assault?" Ratchet asks.

"I would have to agree," Clank says, "but it is too early to make assumptions. We should keep moving."

We head up a ramp and spot a Tharpod lying on the ground, leaning against the side of a building ahead of us. He's alive, but asleep, evidently.

Ratchet walks up to him and says, "Hello?"

The Tharpod jerks awake, shouting, "It was me, Mom! I ate those raspberry Pop Tarts… oh!" The Tharpod stands up and dusts himself off. "Welcome, science fans, to the Frumpus Croid Exploratorium of Scientific Wonderment! It's… well, it's not much to look at now. But years ago, there was wonderment all up in this place!"

"Uh, right," I say, raising an eyebrow. "We're looking for Dr. Croid. We need to find him before the minions do."

"What minions?" the Tharpod asks blankly. Oddly, he doesn't seem alarmed.

"Listen, moron," Nefarious speaks, sounding thoroughly annoyed, "I'm having a real bad day, and upping the squishy ratio is only making it worse. We need to find Dr. Croid, so is he _here_ or _not?"_

I start chuckling at what Nefarious said about squishy ratios. He gives me a glare as the Tharpod replies, "Sure he is! I mean, I think he is. Locked himself in the Hall of Paradoxology and I haven't seen him since. Of course, that was a long time ago. Not many people come here for tours anymore anyway, so I should probably start looking for another job."

"You think?" I say. Then I shake my head. "Can you tell us how to access the facility?"

"All you gotta do is take this tour cart over to Rossa Fields, then cross Gorthon Crater to the main campus. Of course, that crater's impossible to cross without a guardian bot, but maybe you can find a way to power one up. In fact, why don't I take you there myself? I don't think that Croid's ever changed the authorisation codes for the guardians…" Then the Tharpod tour guide leads us up to the tour cart. "Right this way, right this way! Wonderment abounds!"

We follow him onto the cart and the tour guide tries to start it up. The engine sputters a bit. "Woops! Don't worry, that's normal. It'll be fine in a moment."

With a rusty squeak, the cart jerks forward. "There! Off we go! Wonderment, wonderment, wonderment… WONDERMENT!"

"Shut up!" Nefarious snaps.

The Tharpod looks at him with a hurt expression. Then he looks at me. "Is he always this mean?"

I shrug. "Ask his butler. I'm sure he'll tell you all the horror stories you need to know."

"Smart-mouthed squishy," Nefarious mutters.

I roll my eyes. Suddenly the screen attached to the cart activates. The faces of Dr, Croid and Nevo appear.

 _"Welcome to the Frumpus Croid Exploratorium of Scientific Wonderment!"_ Croid says. _"I am Dr. Frumpus Croid!"_

Then Nevo says, _"And I'm Dr. Nevo Binklemeyer!"_

"This is just a recording," the tour guide tells us. "I was the cameraman! Croid was a great guy. Cheerful and always looking towards the future. Nevo was a little more serious, but was pretty nice too. I never thought he'd turn on us. Just goes to show how despicable people can be, I guess."

 _"And you are about to embark on an exciting odyssey through the world of science!"_ Croid informs us. Or rather the recorded version of him.

"Well, I do like learning things," I say.

The recording ends there.

"So much for learning things," Nefarious remarks.

"You know we could just shove you off this cart right now, right?" Ratchet asks.

The tour guide then says, "My, my! You five remind me of my cousins! Always bickering… I wonder how they're doing. Hey, another recording's playing!"

 _"The first stop on our tour of discovery is the Rossa Fields Mining Outpost,"_ Croid says. After a silence, Croid whispers, _"Go ahead, Nevo, read from the prompter!"_

 _"Yes! Right! Eons ago, a class-D comet struck our planet with incredible force. The resulting fragments ended up in this very location! Dr. Croid and I immediately implemented numerous devices in order to collect and catalog these samples for science."_

Then the recording ends and the cart jerks to a halt next to a platform.

"Here we are!" the tour guide announces. "I'll show you guys how to use the protomorphic energy repositories. You have Vac-U's, right?"

We all nod in reply. The Tharpod smiles. "Good, 'cuz you'll need 'em. I've got my own."

"Um, okay?" I say, equipping my Vac-U. The rest of us do the same.

"Oh! Another recording is playing!" the tour guide points to a screen over in a corner.

 _"These protomorphic energy repositories were designed to siphon and redistribute kinetic energy from the comet shards,"_ Nevo says. _"However, the redistribution process is extremely unstable. And should only be attempted by a licensed technician."_

Then the recording ends.

"Alright, let's get started," the tour guide says. "See that shard in the metal ring over there? We're going to use our Vac-U's to bring it to the repository to charge it up. We have to do that because of some unfriendly residents who live here. Plus, it's the only way to power up a guardian."

"Okay then," Ratchet says. We all activate our Vac-U's and pull the shard into the repository. Within a few moments, it's recharged.

"Alrighty!" the tour guide says. "Let's go!"

We use our Vac-U's to pull the shard along with us as we cross across a field to the next repository.

"So did you mean by 'unfriendly residents?'" I ask the Tharpod while we wait for the shard to get to full power again.

"Oh!" the tour guide replies, "Well, there's a species of animal eating plants here that we call the Magnus Snatcher. Croid wanted to call it something like the 'Extraordinary Muncher,' but Nevo got all technical and so it's called… well, the Magnus Snatcher. They don't live anywhere else on Magnus, so that's why we let them stay here."

The shard is fully recharged now. As we make our way through the fields, Clank asks, "Adara, you said you thought Earth may be the same planet as Kerwan. Why is that?"

"It's pretty simple," I say. "Similar climate, similar dominant species, similar location… and the fact that 'Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star' originated there. That's the only logical explanation. But if that really is the case, then that means I traveled through both time and space."

"And what about that 'Insomniac' thing you mentioned at one point?" Nefarious asks.

"It's a video game company," I say vaguely. "On Earth- er, Kerwan. I guess it's contributions to society were lost with the times. I don't know. I'm getting a headache. Can we just focus on the task at hand for right now?"

"Sure, I guess," Ratchet says.

By that time, we've reached the next repository. Then the tour guide, while the shard recharges, says, "Now let me tell you about the time Mr. Dinkles got his head stuck in a Suck Cannon…"

. . .

 **I hope nobody minds the fact that the Tharpod guy is getting a bigger role in this part of the story. I felt like that this was just something that could _not_ be passed up. :)**


End file.
